Uninstalling Packages

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Another good thing about RPM packages is that they are easily uninstalled, which is very handy if you are tight on disk space and want to rid your disk of anything you aren’t using or aren’t likely to use. Quite conveniently, you can use the Package Management window to do this chore; however, this will only work for those RPMs which you installed via the Package Management window or which were installed during the initial system installation.

Whenever you are ready to take the ax to one or more of these RPMs, here’s all you need to do:

1. Go to the Main menu and select System Settings > Add/Remove Applications. Type your root password when prompted to do so, and click OK.

2. In the Package Management window, scroll down to the section containing the files you wish to remove, and then click Details.

3. When the Package Details window opens, uncheck the checkboxes next to the packages you wish to remove. Once you are done, click the Close button.

4. Once you are back in the Package Management window, click Update to begin the removal process.

5. The system will check things for a second or so before popping up a Completed System Preparation window (just like that in Figure 8-2 on page 113). In this window, you can see how many packages are queued for removal. If the number listed is greater than the number you remember selecting for removal when you unchecked the boxes next to the program names, you’d better click the Show Details button to make sure all is hunky dory. If it isn’t, just Cancel and Quit your way out of things, and start all over from scratch. If everything is as it should be, just click Continue.

6. The system will then remove the packages you specified, and it will tell you when it’s done, at which point you need only click OK.

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