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)