Did I break my system with apt-get autoremove?

Question

I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. I used sudo apt-get autoremove

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  apt-clone archdetect-deb canonical-poke dmeventd dmraid
  gir1.2-timezonemap-1.0 kde-config-screenlocker kinit kio kpackagelauncherqml
  kpackagetool5 kpartx kpartx-boot kwayland-data kwayland-integration kwin
  kwin-common kwin-data kwin-x11 libbonobo2-0 libbonobo2-common libdb5.3++
  libdebian-installer4 libdevmapper-event1.02.1 libdmraid1.0.0.rc16 libfam0
  libgnome-2-0 libgnome2-common libgnomevfs2-0 libgnomevfs2-common
  libkdecorations2-5v5 libkdecorations2private5v5 libkf5activities5
  libkf5archive5 libkf5attica5 libkf5auth-data libkf5auth5
  libkf5bookmarks-data libkf5bookmarks5 libkf5calendarevents5
  libkf5codecs-data libkf5codecs5 libkf5completion-data libkf5completion5
  libkf5config-bin libkf5config-data libkf5configcore5 libkf5configgui5
  libkf5configwidgets-data libkf5configwidgets5 libkf5coreaddons-data
  libkf5coreaddons5 libkf5crash5 libkf5dbusaddons-bin libkf5dbusaddons-data
  libkf5dbusaddons5 libkf5declarative-data libkf5declarative5
  libkf5globalaccel-bin libkf5globalaccel-data libkf5globalaccel5
  libkf5globalaccelprivate5 libkf5gpgmepp5 libkf5guiaddons5 libkf5i18n-data
  libkf5i18n5 libkf5iconthemes-bin libkf5iconthemes-data libkf5iconthemes5
  libkf5idletime5 libkf5itemviews-data libkf5itemviews5 libkf5jobwidgets-data
  libkf5jobwidgets5 libkf5kcmutils-data libkf5kcmutils5
  libkf5kdelibs4support-data libkf5kdelibs4support5 libkf5kdelibs4support5-bin
  libkf5kiocore5 libkf5kiofilewidgets5 libkf5kiontlm5 libkf5kiowidgets5
  libkf5newstuff-data libkf5newstuff5 libkf5notifications-data
  libkf5notifications5 libkf5package-data libkf5package5 libkf5parts-data
  libkf5parts-plugins libkf5parts5 libkf5plasma5 libkf5plasmaquick5
  libkf5quickaddons5 libkf5service-bin libkf5service-data libkf5service5
  libkf5solid5 libkf5solid5-data libkf5sonnet5-data libkf5sonnetcore5
  libkf5sonnetui5 libkf5textwidgets-data libkf5textwidgets5 libkf5wallet-bin
  libkf5wallet-data libkf5wallet5 libkf5waylandclient5 libkf5waylandserver5
  libkf5widgetsaddons-data libkf5widgetsaddons5 libkf5windowsystem-data
  libkf5windowsystem5 libkf5xmlgui-bin libkf5xmlgui-data libkf5xmlgui5
  libkscreenlocker5 libkwalletbackend5-5 libkwin4-effect-builtins1
  libkwineffects7 libkwinglutils7 libkwinxrenderutils7 liblvm2app2.2
  liblvm2cmd2.02 liborbit-2-0 libparted-fs-resize0 libphonon4qt5-4
  libpolkit-qt5-1-1 libqt4-designer libqt4-help libqt4-opengl
  libqt4-scripttools libqt4-test libqt5script5 libqtassistantclient4
  libqtwebkit4 libreadline5 libvoikko1 libxcb-composite0 libxcb-cursor0
  libxcb-damage0 linux-headers-4.4.0-23 linux-headers-4.4.0-23-generic
  linux-headers-4.4.0-40 linux-headers-4.4.0-40-generic
  linux-image-4.4.0-23-generic linux-image-4.4.0-40-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-23-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-40-generic
  linux-signed-image-4.4.0-23-generic linux-signed-image-4.4.0-40-generic
  linux-tools-4.4.0-23 linux-tools-4.4.0-23-generic lvm2 plasma-framework
  python3-icu python3-pam python3-pyqt4 python3-sip
  qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrols qml-module-org-kde-kquickcontrolsaddons
  rdate sonnet-plugins
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 164 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
After this operation, 803 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y

Did it remove some stuff that was not to be removed?

except for when kernel updates arrive, autoremove typically removes dependencies of packages you have removed previously that are considered no longer needed. Did you run any apt remove operations since you last ran apt autoremove? — Zanna, Apr 15 '18 at 10:09
@Zanna, I'm using a laptop that came pre-installed with Ubuntu. So apart from the default programs stuff like Dell rescue and all were present. This is the first time I've used autoremove on this machine(been only 2 weeks). — Rattle, Apr 15 '18 at 10:12
ok, so did you previously remove any software by running apt-get remove some-package? — Zanna, Apr 15 '18 at 10:14
Unlikely but I did break my system with apt-get autoremove once. Please note this is only possible if you hand-compiled critical programs ant put them in /usr/local/bin and used corresponding base packages to satisfy their dependencies. If the base packages went away ... — Joshua, Apr 15 '18 at 20:55

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 16 '18 at 10:55

9

If your system is running all right prior to doing autoremove then the answer is No, you have not broken anything by doing autoremove.

apt-get autoremove removes orphaned dependencies i. e. packages that were installed as dependencies of desired package(s) but became orphan after those desired packages have been removed/purged.

So, unless you have not removed anything necessary before doing autoremove, you can not break the system by only running it.

edited Apr 16 '18 at 10:55

David Foerster

36,264
56
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answered Apr 15 '18 at 10:43

heemayl

91,753

One thing I noticed after running apt-get update is this: E: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/snwh/pulp/ubuntu/dists/xenial/InRelease Clearsigned file isn't valid, got 'NOSPLIT' (does the network require authentication?) I didn't see this before. – Rattle Apr 15 '18 at 11:36
1

@rattle99 Thats a different issue. Check the PPA, does it require authentication? What package(s) have you installed from that PPA? – heemayl Apr 15 '18 at 11:37
How do I find that out? – Rattle Apr 15 '18 at 11:38
1

@rattle99 Re-add it again. There are so many resources available on that. The problem is clearly related to that PPA. Also, if you don't need any packages from it, just remove it using add-apt-repository -r. – heemayl Apr 15 '18 at 11:41
1

Thanks! I removed the PPA and I don't get that error now. – Rattle Apr 15 '18 at 13:39

Did I break my system with apt-get autoremove?

1 Answers1