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I'm following the description given in this answer and when asked by apt if I want to remove the packages, they are listed followed by an asterisk.

The command was

sudo apt-get purge linux-image-3.13.0-{32,43,44,46}-generic

The resulting prompt was

The following packages will be REMOVED:
  linux-image-3.13.0-32-generic* linux-image-3.13.0-43-generic*
  linux-image-3.13.0-44-generic* linux-image-3.13.0-46-generic*
  linux-image-extra-3.13.0-32-generic* linux-image-extra-3.13.0-43-generic*
  linux-image-extra-3.13.0-44-generic* linux-image-extra-3.13.0-46-generic*

My question is, why are these (unused) packages marked with asterisks even though my command did not call for asterisks? I don't think I've ever seen that before and I couldn't find an answer (my bad if it should be easy to find). I'm guessing it somehow signifies they aren't used any more, but then wouldn't they automatically be de-installed?

Community
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MrArsGravis
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1 Answers1

5

From man apt-get:

   --purge
       Use purge instead of remove for anything that would be removed. An
       asterisk ("*") will be displayed next to packages which are
       scheduled to be purged.  remove --purge is equivalent to the purge
       command. Configuration Item: APT::Get::Purge.

And you did use apt-get purge.

muru
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  • So in a prompt such as the above (The following packages will be REMOVED: ...), package-a* will be purged whereas package-b will be removed and not purged? – MrArsGravis Oct 27 '15 at 21:22
  • @MrArsGravis yes. If you can, try the same command with remove instead of purge. – muru Oct 27 '15 at 21:23