To start, I know that these packages aren't hurting anything, and could stay on the system with no problems. I know I'm being a little OCD. However, I'd like to keep the system clean where possible, including pruning unused software. I’d also like to understand the significance of these packages if they are in fact important.

I recently looked through debfoster and aptitude, and found the following that I think aren't necessary. I'm running without Xwindows.

console-setup is keeping the following 4 packages installed:
  console-setup-linux kbd keyboard-configuration xkb-data

I think I can get rid of the console-setup dependency tree, as it seems to affect only physical consoles.

initramfs-tools is keeping the following 3 packages installed:
  busybox klibc-utils libklibc

Busybox is a useful toolbox, but are the other packages in the initramfs-tools tree only for building my own kernels? If I use stock kernels provided by Linode, can I uninstall these?

apt-listchanges is keeping the following 1 packages installed:
  python-support

alt-listchanges doesn’t seem all that important. Is python-support necessary if I use pip?

discover is keeping the following 2 packages installed:
  discover-data libdiscover2

Are these necessary when I'm not going to be plugging new hardware into my Linode?

gettext-base is keeping the following 1 packages installed:
  libasprintf0c2

Do I need gettext-base if I don’t need support for international languages in my shell?

menu

Is menu only for graphical environments? It has some references to KDE.

Overall, are there important things that might break if the packages above are uninstalled? Any "gotchas"? Thanks!

While we are at it, it's called X, X11 or X Window System, there is no such thing as "Xwindows".

You are right, that's only for the console. But hopefully, in a near future and thanks to KVM; we will have a graphical console as an alternative to lish, and in such case you might better have your "physical" keyboard correctly configured.

It is funny but advances in virtualization may make things "only useful for physical consoles" to be useful again.

For that reason, I keep those packages myself.

Yes, you can, if you still use external kernels.

But to me the external kernel thing is something like a leftover from the past.

KVM finally allows you to have your OS installed the same way you would install it at home: Not only with distro-provided kernel, but also with GRUB in the MBR and direct-to-disk boot. I think this is interesting by itself: the ability to move your virtual machine from one VPS provider to another one without changing anything else in the system.

In other words, KVM allows for more inter-operability, and for that reason, I keep those packages.

It does not have any functionality other than "informative", and it's even annoying. I always remove it.

No, it is not. But you might want to stop using pip and use Debian packages if possible. "make install" or the python equivalent is not considered a very elegant thing in the Debian world, as it means you end up having two different ways to install packages and two different ways to remove them.

https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian ... install.27


I don't think so, and in fact, I wonder why Linode installs those packages by default.

You don't. I keep it myself for reasons that will be obvious to anybody willing to try "dpkg -s gettext-base"

Linode does no longer install menu by default.

Some additional comments:

1. Don't worry, you are far from being OCD. A real OCD would start by installing distro-provided kernel, then building his own custom kernel, and finally reinstalling the system in a single /dev/sda with the root filesystem in a LVM for maximum flexibility. Then it is when you are really "in control".

2. There is a phrase in Spain to describe your willingness to remove a package having an installed-size of just 965K: "El chocolate del loro". Explanation here: http://vayamadrid.com/spanish-expressio ... -del-loro/