I use RevoUninstaller on Windows 7 and AppCleaner on OS X. Both have the same purpose of letting you uninstall apps, as well as seeking out left over files or potential related files to the app you are currently uninstalling. Is there something like them for Ubuntu 13.04? I'm looking for an app that will list all my current installed apps, let me uninstall one and seek out related leftover files.

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3 Answers

This comes down to the way you install the software.

If you install the software through a package manager (Debian package management system in Ubuntu), removing the software through the package manager will most likely be enough to clean up. Please note that with APT (a frontend to dpkg, which in turn is the base of the Debian package management system), to remove the software and it's configuration, you need to purge it, not remove it.

When installing software with make install, it's recommended to use checkinstall instead. See the Ubuntu wiki page about checkinstall for more information. You can then remove the software using dpkg or the GUI of your choice (e.g. Synaptic).

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apt-get purge works well from Terminal works well for me.

As the man apt-get page says:

remove - Packages installed are removed (Does NOT include configuration files)

purge - Purge is identical to remove except that packages are removed and purged. Purge meaning that any configuration files are deleted too.

Please note: The package management never touches any files in a user's home folder so the files there will stay even if you purge a package.

Ubuntu Tweak comes with a "Janitor" utility to clean some system garbage. Maybe could be handy for you.

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