I would like to remove or delete or uninstall ALL the installed apps or applications or programs or softwares from Linux... My computer is slowing down because I have installed a lot of useless softwares and it would take a lot of time to remove them one after the other by sudo apt remove. Is it possible to remove them all at once. However, I do not want to remove the essential softwares like Firefox web browser, etc. How to remove and clean my linux computer?
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That's not possible. You can't remove essential software that makes you OS to work. You should look for other solutions than removing software, like disabling startup applications.schrodingerscatcuriosity– schrodingerscatcuriosity2021-07-12 14:48:30 +00:00Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 14:48
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@schrodigerscatcuriosity I want to remove everything excluding essential softwares.user447904– user4479042021-07-12 14:51:37 +00:00Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 14:51
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2If your essential software includes Firefox, the system can’t know that, so there’s bound to be some manual work.Stephen Kitt– Stephen Kitt2021-07-12 14:54:34 +00:00Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 14:54
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4You assume that your computer is slowing down because the installed software, but that's hardly the cause of it. You should look for other problems.schrodingerscatcuriosity– schrodingerscatcuriosity2021-07-12 14:55:17 +00:00Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 14:55
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11. Having software installed does not slow your computer down. Software that is actually running might do that, but not just software that happens to be occupying some space on a disk. 2. how do you define "essential"? if it's something vague like "stuff I want", how do you expect the system to know what you want? BTW, most distros would not flag a web browser like firefox as "essential" - it would be classified as optional software. From a distro dev's POV, "essential" means that a package is essential to provide the bare minimum of system functionality, everything else is optional.cas– cas2021-07-12 15:10:18 +00:00Commented Jul 12, 2021 at 15:10
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2 Answers
In Linux there's next to zero difference between "applications" and utilities/daemons/scripts/etc. etc. etc. What you're looking for makes very little sense. Then there are SDKs like JDK, data sets like geographical locations and others which you could have installed by mistake.
Here's how you could approach this issue differently: instead of installing everything from the get go, you could install some basic graphical desktop, i.e. XFCE and then install individual applications only when needed.
answered Jul 12, 2021 at 14:56
You could try saving the files, directories and apps that you want on another computer and then reinstalling the OS completely and then have to reacquire what's missing on the new system. At least next time around you could be more choosy on what you need for your OS.
