Managing your Debian packages with debfoster

Command Line – debfoster

© Lead Image © konstantynov, 123RF.com

© Lead Image © konstantynov, 123RF.com

Article from Issue 236/2020
Author(s):

When it comes to weeding out unnecessary packages on your Debian system, debfoster lets you conveniently arrange all your housekeeping functions into a single command.

Debian was one of the first distributions to have a modern package system. Over the decades, a whole ecosystem of related commands has grown up around it, including front ends like apt-get and, more recently, apt for the basic package manager dpkg, and then utilities ranging from apt-file for searching files inside packages to apt-cache for searching packages. In fact, a search on "apt" in the Stable repository for Debian 10 returns 54 hits, while a search on "deb" returns 68. One of the lesser-known but handier members of this ecosystem is debfoster [1], whose main purpose is to weed out unnecessary packages. However, like apt, debfoster actually combines several other functions, displaying information on currently installed packages, and serving as a replacement for apt-get.

You can start to use debfoster by running the command without options or targets to create a database of packages that you want to keep installed. This first session takes at least 20 minutes on an average system, since every installed package is queried. However, once the database is populated, later sessions generally only refer to a handful of packages. If you find that you have accidentally kept a package – which is easy to do the first time as your responses become automatic – you can exit and try again.

Once the database is created, debfoster can be run in two ways: by running it after packages have been installed or removed or as an alternative means to install and remove packages. To install a package, use the structure alongside another command with debfoster PACKAGE(S). To remove packages, add a minus sign (-) before the list of packages.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Free Software Projects

    Free software covers such a diverse range of utilities, applications, and other assorted projects that it can be hard to find the perfect tool. We pick the best of the bunch. This month, we discuss Ubuntu, Debfoster, and Deborphan.

  • Command Line: Apt-get

    Dependency tangles fall away with the Debian package system.

  • Smart Package Manager

    The package manager is one of the central components on any Linux system. If you have a system with unreliable package management – such as Suse Linux 10.1 – you may want to consider the Smart alternative.

  • Command Line: wajig

    The wajig tool simplifies package management using self-explanatory sub-commands.

  • Getting Rid of Old Kernels

    When you update the kernel, the old version remains on the disk. If you clean up, the reward is several hundred megabytes of free disk space.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News