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I've just realised I'm not sure how to perform a purge with Apt, that will purge all the dependencies too. I'm reading here and there and still unsure have these candidates:
apt purge --auto-remove <packagename>
and (after purging some packages first):
apt autoremove --purge
Are they correct? Equivalent? Is there a better way?
They’re both correct, but not quite equivalent.
apt purge --auto-remove <packagename>
purges packagename and any packages which are rendered unnecessary by its removal, as well as any other packages which aren’t necessary.
apt autoremove --purge
purges any packages which aren’t necessary (marked as “automatically installed” and with no dependent packages).
The first form is what you’d use when manipulating individual packages; the latter is a clean-up operation across all packages.
You could also enable APT::Get::AutomaticRemove in your apt configuration to get apt to always auto-remove (or use aptitude which behaves like that by default).
