Running low on disk space in Gentoo...

[cp.tar]

... and I discover that I have about a gigabyte of kernel(?) sources.
Seems a bit much for kernel sources only, even if it is more versions
and then copies for every single kind of processor. (du of /usr/src)

Anyway, Portage documentation is a bit vague; emerge --clean would clean
the whole package, not just the sources...

I want to know whether I can use Portage to remove the sources; if not,
can I delete them manually without losing functionality (i.e. would
Portage detect there are no downloaded sources should I wish to
recompile a program)?

Are sources stored at some other place as well? This is my Linux partition:

Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda4 12233092 11042000 1191092 91% /

(I only have one partition due to a rather small hard drive)

And one other thing: when I select everything in my home folder,
nautilus says it takes up 2.9 GB space.
Properties of my folder itself claim it holds 4.5 GB of space; I don't
know how. It's almost double, and certainly one of the reasons I have
very little space left.

I am quite confused & perplexed.

TIA

[Andy Fraser]

Post by cp.tar
... and I discover that I have about a gigabyte of kernel(?) sources.
Seems a bit much for kernel sources only, even if it is more versions
and then copies for every single kind of processor. (du of /usr/src)

On this box, each set of kernel source files is ~305MB after compilation. I
have two installed. Check /usr/src for old version that you've unmerged.

Post by cp.tar
Anyway, Portage documentation is a bit vague; emerge --clean would clean
the whole package, not just the sources...
I want to know whether I can use Portage to remove the sources;

Yes. I use gentoo-dev-sources so "equery list gentoo-dev-sources" will list
all versions that are installed. I keep two version. A known good kernel
and the latest. If the latest version doesn't work I revert to the old
version. I keep the old source around just in case I need it. When a new
version gets installed I unmerge an old one that I no longer want and
remove what's left behind in /usr/src manually.

Post by cp.tar
if not,
can I delete them manually without losing functionality

Yes. But...

Post by cp.tar
(i.e. would
Portage detect there are no downloaded sources should I wish to
recompile a program)?

No. I can't think of anything except external kernel modules that would need
the kernel source though.

Portage will still think they're installed unless you unmerge them via
Portage. You should always use Portage to remove something installed via
Portage if only to keep Portage clean. If you do manually delete one you
can still unmerge it.

Post by cp.tar
Are sources stored at some other place as well?

Sources are unpacked to /var/tmp/portage but are usually cleaned when emerge
is finished.

[Bill Marcum]

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.questions.]
On Thu, 06 Jan 2005 10:44:17 +0100, cp.tar

Post by cp.tar
And one other thing: when I select everything in my home folder,
nautilus says it takes up 2.9 GB space.
Properties of my folder itself claim it holds 4.5 GB of space; I don't
know how. It's almost double, and certainly one of the reasons I have
very little space left.
I am quite confused & perplexed.

Have you set Nautilus to show hidden files?

[Filip van den Bergh]

Post by cp.tar
... and I discover that I have about a gigabyte of kernel(?) sources.
Seems a bit much for kernel sources only, even if it is more versions
and then copies for every single kind of processor. (du of /usr/src)
Anyway, Portage documentation is a bit vague; emerge --clean would clean
the whole package, not just the sources...
I want to know whether I can use Portage to remove the sources; if not,
can I delete them manually without losing functionality (i.e. would
Portage detect there are no downloaded sources should I wish to
recompile a program)?

[snip]

There's a thread on the Gentoo forums on which files are safe to delete.
Check http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=8993.

Filip