DPKG Uninstall – Dependencies Still Exist in ‘dpkg -l’ After Running ‘apt-get remove’

aptdpkguninstallxfce

I suspected that installing xfce4 cause some issues in Ubuntu so I removed them using apt-get remove xfce4 xfce4-goodeis.

But when I ran 'dpkg -l' I still can see some libraries and packages for xfce4:

$ dpkg -l | grep -i xfce
rc  libexo-1-0:amd64                              0.10.2-2                                 amd64        Library with extensions for Xfce
rc  libgarcon-1-0                                 0.2.1-1                                  amd64        freedesktop.org compliant menu implementation for Xfce
rc  libxfce4ui-1-0                                4.11.0-0ubuntu1~ppa0.13.10.1             amd64        widget library for Xfce - Gtk+2 variant
rc  libxfce4ui-common                             4.11.0-0ubuntu1~ppa0.13.10.1             all          common files for libxfce4ui
rc  libxfce4util6                                 4.10.1-1                                 amd64        Utility functions library for Xfce4
rc  libxfcegui4-4                                 4.10.0-2                                 amd64        Basic GUI C functions for Xfce4
rc  libxfconf-0-2                                 4.10.0-2                                 amd64        Client library for Xfce4 configure interface
rc  mousepad                                      0.3.0-2                                  amd64        simple Xfce oriented text editor
rc  thunar                                        1.6.3-1ubuntu1                           amd64        File Manager for Xfce
rc  xfce4-appfinder                               4.10.1-1                                 amd64        Application finder for the Xfce4 Desktop Environment
rc  xfce4-clipman                                 2:1.2.3-2ubuntu1                         amd64        clipboard history utility
rc  xfce4-mixer                                   1:4.10.0-1ubuntu2                        amd64        Xfce mixer application
rc  xfce4-notes                                   1.7.7-3ubuntu2                           amd64        Notes application for the Xfce4 desktop
rc  xfce4-panel                                   4.10.1-1ubuntu1                          amd64        panel for Xfce4 desktop environment
rc  xfce4-power-manager                           1.2.0-2ubuntu1                           amd64        power manager for Xfce desktop
rc  xfce4-session                                 4.10.1-1ubuntu1                          amd64        Xfce4 Session Manager
rc  xfce4-settings                                4.11.1-0ubuntu1~ppa0.13.10.1             amd64        graphical application for managing Xfce settings
rc  xfce4-terminal                                0.6.2-3ubuntu1.1                         amd64        Xfce terminal emulator
rc  xfce4-volumed                                 0.2.0-0ubuntu1                           amd64        volume keys daemon
rc  xfdesktop4                                    4.11.2-0ubuntu1~ppa0.13.10.1             amd64        xfce desktop background, icons and root menu manager
rc  xfwm4                                         4.11.1-0ubuntu1~ppa0.13.10.1             amd64        window manager of the Xfce project

I copy-pasted all these packages\libraries to form an apt-get remove command to remove all of these dependencies, and the command ran normally, but running dpkg -l | grep -i xfce showed these dependencies again !

Why are these dependencies still installed ?

Best Answer

Note the rc at the beginning of the list.

r: Remove (marked for removal)
c: Configuration files are present.

The difference between apt-get remove and purge (From man apt-get)

   remove
       remove is identical to install except that packages are removed instead of installed.
       Note the removing a package leaves its configuration files in system.

   purge
       purge is identical to remove except that packages are removed and purged (any
       configuration files are deleted too).

As you choose to apt-get remove, your dpkg -l reflecting that. If you would have been used apt-get purge you could avoid such a situation. To get rid of these, try in terminal,

dpkg --list | grep "^rc" | cut -d " " -f 3 | xargs sudo dpkg --purge

It will purge all the packages which are marked for removal. Before you purge them you can check the list which you are going to purge using,

dpkg --list | grep "^rc" | cut -d " " -f 3

I guess you have no other package remain marked for removal except those are from xfce. If you are not sure about it. Use the following instead,

dpkg --list | grep -i xfce | cut -d " " -f 3 | xargs sudo dpkg --purge
Related Question