Linux Mint Forums

There really isn't any difference between MintInstall, Synaptic and the command line. MintInstall and Synaptic are simply GUI frontends to apt, and which one you use won't affect the final outcome. MintInstall I think hides some dependencies and libraries in order to be simpler for new users. Synaptic shows all packages and is what's used in Ubuntu. Command line is my favorite just because it's the fastest for me to use. Whichever one is the "best" is up to you.

As far as cleaning up the old kernels, I'm not sure. I've never done it myself. I do know there is an apt command that will remove orphaned packages, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Linux isn't like Windows, it takes little to no work to keep Linux running smooth.

virtualu2 wrote:I also am not sure how to clean up the linux mint or *ubuntu* systems in terms of old kernels, etc.? I ran sudo apt-get dist-upgrade this morning on mint 7 32bit and got the new .13 kernel, but how do I remove the old one and is it ok to run dist-upgrades like that?

Debian/Mint retains one previous release of the kernel as a backup in case you can't boot from the current kernel, in the menus you will see previous kernel selection
--however, although it wont save much file space, you can delete the unused kernel from your system
check /boot and /usr/src
--where you will find the previous kernel versions..

There is really no preferred method, except that Mint might present some as more suitable or emphasized, eg mint utilties (mintupdate, mininstall) etc..

I use synaptic mint menu>Package manager , for application installs
--I used mintinstall at installation time, to see what were the recommended applications..

Computer Janitor
--in mint menu>control center>system>Computer janitor, will clean up uninstalled applications

Kernels..
/boot, contains a few kernels , the same as appear on the mint menu at /boot/grub/menu.1st, if you had many kernels there you could remove/delte the one that don't appear on your mint menu (if you remove those, that menu entry wouldn't work,and you might have removed a critical kernel), such as the one you are using to boot the system, so you have to be careful about what you delete..

You can install bleachbit, this cleans up user or system /tmp and history residue and some applications data..