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Fii
Asked: 2019-11-14 09:57:24 +0800 CST

Manually uninstall software without package control

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On my Kubuntu 18.10 19.04 system, I have a software installed (in this case: the Arduino IDE), which I would like to completely uninstall.

  • I cannot remember how I installed it, but it does not show up in dpkg --list or the software center and apt-get purge won't find it. I'm pretty sure it was installed without any package manager.
  • I downloaded the current (newer than installed) version from the developer's website (https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software), which includes an unistall.sh script. But the only effect it seems to have is that the launcher shortcut (which is still there, for that matter) doesn't work anymore - the software can still be run from terminal (by simply typing arduino).

What, generally, are the steps to take to manually uninstall software from my system? I assume it's mainly deleting files, but how do I locate them all? Are there any databases I need to un-register the software from?

filesystem uninstall software-uninstall arduino

1 Answers

  1. All your sudo commands are logged in /var/log/auth.log and it's logrotated history. Find the commands you used to install it there.

    Alternatively, you could install the installwatch, package, read the docs, and re-install the old package with installwatch keeping an eye on things.

    2nd alternative- inspect (tar tvf or equivalent) the original (or re- downloaded original) archive.

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