clearing /tmp folder in Ubuntu 12.04

2 questions really. So far I have only installed software through software center, Is it ok to clear the .tmp folder? I have read conflicting answers online
see attached

Also when I just installed Clamtk (anti virus) and updated the engine, when I hover over the icon it says "waitng to install". Software center indicates that it is installed. Does this mean I need to restart the OS to complete the install? (EDIT once I rebooted the waiting message disappeard and the icon on the launcher changed)
Thanks, I tried askubuntu.com but can not find my post (LOL) Anyone who complains about NBR should check out that free for all ..

 

You can try deleting things in the temp folder but they might be in use, and you can't delete a file while it is open. As you can tell there are various lockfiles and session files there. Unless it is taking up a lot of room I wouldn't be bothered. It should be cleaned during init anyway.

I have no idea about your antivirus, sorry. Never used AV on Linux before... confused why it would be needed unless you are running lots of untrusted code.

 

Thanks a lot AllurG... I have read many opinions on AV and Linux and I certainly respect yours. My eventual goal is to use Ubuntu solely on the G73, So I am using the Dell D610 as a test bed of sorts. I figure, make my mistakes and learn for now till I get comfortable with Firefox, ad block, etc.
I do not intend to use rouge programs or torrents in the future (I already made that mistake), so I will be sticking with software center.

 

Does anyone know how to completely remove an application? I installed Psensor but wanted to try another version. (The other version crashes). Now if I remove Psensor w/Sofware Manager, reboot, I still get the crashing version. when I try to install it. I see .deb files for both versions on my hard drive, but a flock of other files also show up when I do a seatch for "psensor"
Thanks,
I ended up installing Synaptic and used an option there to install the package I needed. I can see why software manager is often maligned. I removed it and am going with Synaptic from now on!

 

Code:

dpkg --get-selections | grep psensor

If it's listed as 'deinstall' there are still config files, etc around. If it returns nothing, it's totally gone (from the packaging system point of view).

To completely remove a package, including its config and any other files, you can purge it:

Code:

aptitude purge psensor

or

Code:

apt-get --purge remove psensor

 

You can also mount /tmp in RAM by adding the following to /etc/fstab:

Code:

tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,noexec,nodev,nosuid,mode=1777  0  0

The "noexec" option will also stop some simple exploits. If you use the above with this option you will also need to add the following to /etc/apt/apt.conf

Code:

DPkg::Pre-Invoke{"mount -o remount,exec /tmp";};
DPkg::Post-Invoke {"mount -o remount /tmp";};

If you use an SSD this will reduce disk writes. Using zram is also a good idea for SSD users to run a compressed swap in RAM.

 

Yeah I use tmpfs for my /tmp, and it is really pretty great. I never remember to clear that crap out, so just having it disappear then you reboot is awesome. Also, tmpfs is way more advanced than ramfs, since it dynamically grows and shrinks rather than simply taking up a specific amount of ram. I have mine set up to max out at half my ram, though I have never gotten close with my 8GB. Also, my system usually idles at about 175MB usage, so it seems more than safe.

 

Software Center is still not mature if you ask me... Especially with the search results it provides... Synaptic and apt-get are the more reliable ones...