AskFedora/2007-08-27

Cleaning Old Files and Packages
''Peter A. Shevtsov : From time to time I install some new software on my computers just to look at it, to try, to see if it is the right tool for me, etc. After reading new articles on Fedora Daily Package I run yum more frequently :)

This software requires some additional packages, libraries, etc. Also, it creates some config files in my home dir. But when I remove the software the redundant packages (libraries) and config files stay in my system. Is there any way to remove theses unused packages and old config files?''

By way of answering your question about configuration files, consider that package updates are actually a remove and an install action. If configuration files were included in package removal, instead of sometimes treated specially, then upgrading a package might actually erase the administrator's system configuration! This is obviously not a desirable outcome, so many packages mark their system configuration files in the RPM database so they are not yanked off the system. To see if an installed package has a specially marked configuration file, use the command.

If you want to clean your system of packages that are not required by any other software on your system, you can use the  script that is part of the 'yum-utils' package. Install 'yum-utils' with the command  and then run   to see a list of these packages. Note that not every dependency installed during a transaction is necessarily a leaf. A more thorough way to remove packages you installed is by surveying the output of the command, which shows you recently installed packages listed by date.

You may also be interested in the  option, which you can add to your   file to be able to roll back your installed software state. Refer to the Fedora Daily Package site[1] for an excellent explanation of how this feature works.

[1] http://dailypackage.fedorabook.com/index.php?/archives/17-Wednesday-Why-Repackaging-and-Rollbacks.html

CD Split For fedora 7
''Jack Gibbs : I need the address or url of the company that splits fedora 7 into CDs. thanks!''

This information is available fro the Fedora 7 FAQ [1]. There are torrent files available too.

[1] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora7/FAQ?#CD_Install_Images