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I added a private repository a couple of months ago and installed the package accordingly.

Now I get the information that a new version of that package is available.

But I do not want to perform the upgrade to that version.

In How can PPAs be removed? I can see that I can remove the ppa via:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:whatever/ppa

I understand from can I remove PPA without affecting software? that doing so still leaves the installed software untouched.

  1. is this really the case?

  2. how can I be assured that by no further activity the software gets deleted accidentally?

    (I remember that when performing

     sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get upgrade

    I get sometimes asked to delete some unused packages / versions.

    Now I am anxious that this or a similar activity might also delete the installed software)

muru
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    Hello. You can never be assured you wont make a mistake and kill off the software later, That would be on you. – David Apr 10 '22 at 08:21

2 Answers2

8

Yes.

When you add-apt-repository, it doesn't magically upgrade the software. Same happens in reverse. You're just removing the PPA's package list, which Apt reads from.

When you remove the PPA, your local version is likely the latest version, so remains the install candidate. You can confirm this with apt policy <package>.

I'm not sure if you're just asking or if you want to remove the packages the PPA had. If you do, there's a nifty little tool called ppa-purge. It's in the repos so it's fairly easy to get going here:

sudo apt install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:whatever/ppa

If you've already removed the PPA, you will probably have to add it back first.

BeastOfCaerbannog
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Oli
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3

Removing a PPA is removing the link to the software for the the install and upgrade.

It does in no way remove the software the PPA points to that it aided you to install.

If you want to remove the software that the PPA points to or for that matter any software you need to run an explicit command to do so.

David
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