localepurge for Debian
----------------------

This is just a simple script to recover disk space wasted for unneeded
Gnome/KDE localizations and man pages. Depending on your installation, it
is possible to save some 200, 300, or even more megabytes of disk space
usually dedicated for localization you'll probably never have any use for.

**********************************************************************
 Please note, that this tool is a hack which is *not* integrated with
 Debian's package management system and therefore is not for the faint
 of heart.  Responsibility for its usage and possible breakage of your
 system therefore lies in the sysadmin's (your) hands. 

 Please definitely do abstain from reporting any such bugs blaming
 localepurge if you break your system by using it. If you don't know
 what you are doing and can't handle any resulting breakage on your own
 then please simply don't use this package.

 This program does interfere with the Debian package management and does
 provoke strange, but usually harmless, behaviour of programs related
 with apt/dpkg like dpkg-repack(1), reportbug(1), etc. 
 
 If you need to have any package in its full integrity so that e.g. the
 formerly mentioned programs work as designed by its author and as
 expected by you, simply deinstall localepurge temporarily without
 purging its configuration and reinstall the packages you need in their
 fully integral state. When you are done with what you needed the
 integral packages for simply reinstall localepurge again.
**********************************************************************

localepurge will automagically be invoked upon completion of any apt
installation run.  It uses the dpkg "Post-Invoke" function to execute
the script "/usr/sbin/localepurge", which automagically deletes the
directory of every locale *not* defined in "/etc/locale.nopurge".  You
have to put in the locale directory names you want to keep from removal
after each apt installation run in this configuration file.  Unless
properly configured, localepurge will only display a message and the
system's locale directories won't be touched at all.

The contents of following directories will be affected from removals:

- /usr/share/doc/kde/HTML
- /usr/share/gnome/help
- /usr/share/locale
- /usr/share/man
- /usr/share/omf
- /usr/share/tcltk
- /usr/share/cups
- /usr/share/calendar
- /usr/share/aptitude
- /usr/share/help
- /usr/share/vim/vim*/lang

The localepurge configuration should be configured after installation
only by using the command

       dpkg-reconfigure localepurge

to add/remove locale entries or toggle verbosity. Since localepurge is
using the debconf facility for storing its configuration entries it
shouldn't be configured manually because all manual entries will get
lost after upgrade, reconfiguration or reinstallation of localepurge.

A Word of CAUTION:
------------------

All locale directories from the affected paths listed above which are *not* 
listed in "/etc/locale.nopurge" will be irreversibly deleted.  The only way to
reinstall any lost locales then is a complete reinstallation of all the Debian
packages containing them. Probably easiest would be the following command:

    apt --reinstall install $(dpkg -S LC_MESSAGES | cut -d: -f1 | tr ', ' '\n' | sort -u)

 See "/usr/share/doc/localepurge/reinstall_debs.sh" for a ready made recipe.

I sincerely hope that some day further development of Debian's great 
package management system will make localepurge fully obsolete.

Administrators of systems with short disk space should have a look
at both the deborphan and debfoster packages. Especially debfoster can
definitely work wonders for your scarce disk space!

Paul Seelig <pseelig@debian.org>, Tue, 29 May 2001 17:53:06 +0200
Gustavo Noronha Silva <kov@debian.org>, Thu, 27 Dec 2001 19:29:48 +0200 
