NAME

       localepurge - reclaim disk space removing unneeded localizations

SYNOPSIS

       localepurge

DESCRIPTION

       localepurge  is  a  small script to recover disk space wasted for unneeded locale files and localized man
       pages. It will be automagically invoked by dpkg upon completion of any apt installation run.    You  have
       to define the locale directory names you want to keep from removal after each apt installation run in the
       /etc/locale.nopurge  configuration file.  Unless localepurge has been adequately configured, the system's
       localization files 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/{templates,locale,doc-root}
       - /usr/share/calendar
       - /usr/share/aptitude
       - /usr/share/help/<domain>/HELP_CONTENT(files&dirs)
       - /usr/share/vim/vim*/lang
       The localization files you actually need and which you want to be preserved on your system can be  easily
       configured by running the following command:
       dpkg-reconfigure localepurge

OPTIONS

       The  configurable  options  consist  of  toggling verbose output, reporting a summary of freed space, and
       deletion of localized manual pages in addition to  locale  files.   All  actions  are  specified  in  the
       /etc/locale.nopurge configuration file.
       For  detailed debugging the commandline switch -debug or just a short -d instead are available for usage.
       For verbose output the commandline switch -verbose or just a short -v can be added.

A Word of CAUTION

       Please note, that this tool is a hack which is not integrated with Debian's package management system and
       therefore is not meant 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 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 it.
       All  locale  directories  from the affected paths listed above which are either commented out or not even
       listed at all in /etc/locale.nopurge will be irreversibly deleted.  The only way to  reinstall  any  lost
       locales   is   a   complete   reinstallation   of   all   the   Debian   packages  containing  them.  See
       /usr/share/doc/localepurge/reinstall_debs.sh for a recipe.  Alternatively you  can  reconfigure  it  with
       dpkg-reconfigure(8) to prevent locale files from being purged during subsequent runs of apt.

SOLVING PROBLEMS caused by localepurge

       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), debsums(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.

FILES

       /etc/locale.nopurge

SEE ALSO

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

       deborphan(1)
       debfoster(8)
       dpkg-reconfigure(8)
       debconf(8)
       /usr/share/doc/localepurge/README.debian
       /usr/share/doc/localepurge/reinstall_debs.sh

AUTHOR

       localepurge  and  its accompanying manual page was written for the Debian GNU/Linux system by Paul Seelig
       <pseelig@debian.org> with major contributions from  Gustavo  Noronha  Silva  <kov@debian.org>,  Francesco
       Potortì and Miguel Figueiredo.
       The  author sincerely hopes that some day further development of Debian's great package management system
       will make localepurge fully obsolete.

                                                                                                  LOCALEPURGE(8)