How to keep install base clean and slim?

[William Davis]

On Oct 29, 2007, at 12:58 AM, Tobias Weisserth wrote:

> Hi everybody,
>
> I have a very basic question that I couldn't answer for myself by  
> looking at the port manpage or by searching the macports website.
>
> My install base is cluttered by many inactive versions of ports that  
> I cannot uninstall without running in dependency problems.
>
> For example, this is a list of all the ports that I have installed:
>
> The following ports are currently installed:
>  a2ps @4.13b_3 (active)
>  aalib @1.4rc5_2 (active)
>  apr @1.2.11_0 (active)
>  apr @1.2.8_0
>  apr @1.2.9_0
>  apr-util @1.2.10_0 (active)
>  apr-util @1.2.8_2
>  aspell @0.60.5_0 (active)
>  aterm @1.0.0_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  atk @1.18.0_0
>  atk @1.20.0_0
>  atk @1.20.0_1 (active)
>  audiofile @0.2.6_0
>  audiofile @0.2.6_1 (active)
>  autoconf @2.61_0
>  autoconf @2.61_1 (active)
>  autogen @5.9.1_0+darwin_8
>  autogen @5.9.2_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  automake @1.10_0 (active)
>  bison @2.3_0 (active)
>  boehmgc @6.8_0+darwin_8
>  boehmgc @7.0_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  bzip2 @1.0.4_1 (active)
>  cairo @1.4.10_0 (active)
>  cairo @1.4.8_0
>  cairomm @1.2.4_0 (active)
>  clamav @0.91.1_0
>  clamav @0.91.2_0 (active)
>  cups-headers @1.1.15_1 (active)
>  curl @7.16.2_0+darwin_8
>  curl @7.16.4_0+darwin_8
>  curl @7.17.0_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  db44 @4.4.20_1+darwin_8 (active)
>  dbh @1.0.24_1 (active)
>  dbus @1.0.2_2 (active)
>  dbus-glib @0.73_0
>  dbus-glib @0.74_0 (active)
>  dia @0.96.1_0 (active)
>  docbook-xml-4.1.2 @4.1.2_1 (active)
>  docbook-xml-4.2 @4.2_0 (active)
>  docbook-xsl @1.72.0_0 (active)
>  esound @0.2.38_1 (active)
>  expat @2.0.1_0 (active)
>  fcgi @2.4.0_1 (active)
>  ffcall @1.10_0 (active)
>  fluxbox @1.0.0_0 (active)
>  fluxbox @1.0rc3_0
>  fontconfig @2.4.2_0+macosx
>  fontconfig @2.4.2_1+macosx (active)
>  freetype @2.3.4_1
>  freetype @2.3.5_0 (active)
>  gail @1.18.0_0
>  gail @1.20.0_0
>  gail @1.20.0_1
>  gail @1.20.1_1 (active)
>  gawk @3.1.5_2 (active)
>  gcc41 @4.1.2_1+darwin_8
>  gcc41 @4.1.2_2+darwin_8 (active)
>  gcc42 @4.2.0_0+darwin_8
>  gcc42 @4.2.1_0+darwin_8
>  gcc42 @4.2.2_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  gconf @2.18.0.1_0
>  gconf @2.20.0_1
>  gconf @2.20.1_0 (active)
>  getopt @1.1.4_0
>  getopt @1.1.4_1 (active)
>  gettext @0.16.1_0 (active)
>  ghostscript @8.54_0
>  ghostscript @8.60_0 (active)
>  gimp-print @4.2.7_0 (active)
>  gimp2 @2.2.14_0
>  gimp2 @2.3.18_0
>  gimp2 @2.3.19_0+gnome+python
>  gimp2 @2.4.0-rc1_0+gnome+python
>  gimp2 @2.4.0-rc3_0 (active)
>  glib2 @2.12.12_0
>  glib2 @2.12.13_0
>  glib2 @2.14.0_0
>  glib2 @2.14.1_0
>  glib2 @2.14.2_0 (active)
>  glibmm @2.12.10_0
>  glibmm @2.12.9_0
>  glibmm @2.14.0_0 (active)
>  gmp @4.2.1_4+test (active)
>  gnome-icon-theme @2.18.0_1
>  gnome-icon-theme @2.20.0_0
>  gnome-icon-theme @2.20.0_1 (active)
>  gnome-keyring @0.8.1_0
>  gnome-keyring @2.20.0_0
>  gnome-keyring @2.20.1_0 (active)
>  gnome-mime-data @2.18.0_3 (active)
>  gnome-mime-data @2.4.3_0
>  gnome-vfs @2.18.1_0
>  gnome-vfs @2.20.0_1 (active)
>  gnugetopt @1.2_1 (active)
>  gnupg @1.4.7_0 (active)
>  gnustep-base @1.14.0_0 (active)
>  gnustep-gui @0.12.0_0 (active)
>  gnustep-make @2.0.1_0+gnustep_layout (active)
>  gnutls @1.6.3_0+darwin_8
>  gnutls @2.0.0_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  gsed @4.1.5_0
>  gsed @4.1.5_1 (active)
>  gtk-xfce-engine @2.2.9_0 (active)
>  gtk2 @2.10.13_0
>  gtk2 @2.10.14_0
>  gtk2 @2.12.0_0
>  gtk2 @2.12.1_0 (active)
>  gtkmm @2.10.10_0
>  gtkmm @2.12.0_0 (active)
>  guile @1.8.1_2+darwin_8 (active)
>  gzip @1.3.12_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  heimdal @0.7.2_0
>  heimdal @0.7.2_1
>  heimdal @1.0.1_0
>  help2man @1.36.4_0+darwin_8
>  help2man @1.36.4_1+darwin_8 (active)
>  hicolor-icon-theme @0.10_0 (active)
>  howl @0.9.10_0
>  howl @1.0.0_0 (active)
>  icon-naming-utils @0.8.1_0
>  icon-naming-utils @0.8.2_0
>  icon-naming-utils @0.8.6_0 (active)
>  inkscape @0.45.1_0 (active)
>  intltool @0.35.5_0
>  intltool @0.36.2_0 (active)
>  jasper @1.701.0_0 (active)
>  jpeg @6b_1
>  jpeg @6b_2 (active)
>  lame @3.97_0 (active)
>  latex2html @2002-2-1_1 (active)
>  lcms @1.16_0 (active)
>  libart_lgpl @2.3.19_1
>  libart_lgpl @2.3.19_2 (active)
>  libbonobo @2.18.0_0
>  libbonobo @2.20.0_1
>  libbonobo @2.20.1_1 (active)
>  libbonoboui @2.18.0_0
>  libbonoboui @2.20.0_0
>  libbonoboui @2.20.0_1 (active)
>  libcroco @0.6.1_0
>  libcroco @0.6.1_1 (active)
>  libexif @0.6.13_1
>  libexif @0.6.16_0
>  libexif @0.6.16_1 (active)
>  libgcrypt @1.2.4_0+darwin_8
>  libgcrypt @1.2.4_1+darwin_8 (active)
>  libglade2 @2.6.0_1
>  libglade2 @2.6.1_1
>  libglade2 @2.6.2_0 (active)
>  libgnome @2.18.0_0
>  libgnome @2.19.1_0
>  libgnome @2.20.0_0
>  libgnome @2.20.1.1_1 (active)
>  libgnomecanvas @2.14.0_1
>  libgnomecanvas @2.20.0_1
>  libgnomecanvas @2.20.1.1_0 (active)
>  libgnomecups @0.2.2_0
>  libgnomecups @0.2.2_1 (active)
>  libgnomeprint @2.12.1_0
>  libgnomeprint @2.18.2_0 (active)
>  libgnomeprintui @2.12.1_0
>  libgnomeprintui @2.18.1_0 (active)
>  libgnomeui @2.18.1_0
>  libgnomeui @2.20.0_0
>  libgnomeui @2.20.1.1_0 (active)
>  libgpg-error @1.5_0
>  libgpg-error @1.5_1 (active)
>  libgsf @1.14.3_1
>  libgsf @1.14.7_0 (active)
>  libgtkhtml @2.11.0_0
>  libgtkhtml @2.11.1_0 (active)
>  libiconv @1.11_4+darwin_8
>  libiconv @1.11_5+darwin_8
>  libiconv @1.11_6+darwin_8 (active)
>  libidl @0.8.8_0
>  libidl @0.8.9_0 (active)
>  libmad @0.15.1b_1 (active)
>  libmcrypt @2.5.8_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  libmng @1.0.9_0 (active)
>  libogg @1.1.3_0
>  libogg @1.1.3_1
>  libogg @1.1.3_2 (active)
>  libpcap @0.9.5_1 (active)
>  libpng @1.2.18_0+darwin_8
>  libpng @1.2.20_0+darwin_8
>  libpng @1.2.22_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  librsvg @2.16.1_1
>  librsvg @2.18.2_1 (active)
>  libsigcxx2 @2.0.17_0+darwin_8
>  libsigcxx2 @2.0.18_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  libtasn1 @0.3.9_0
>  libtasn1 @1.1_0 (active)
>  libtool @1.5.22_0
>  libtool @1.5.24_0
>  libtool @1.5.24_1 (active)
>  libungif @4.1.4_0
>  libungif @4.1.4_1
>  libungif @4.1.4_2 (active)
>  libvorbis @1.1.2_0
>  libvorbis @1.2.0_0 (active)
>  libwmf @0.2.8.4_0 (active)
>  libxfce4mcs @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  libxfce4util @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  libxfcegui4 @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  libxml2 @2.6.28_1
>  libxml2 @2.6.29_0
>  libxml2 @2.6.30_0 (active)
>  libxslt @1.1.20_0
>  libxslt @1.1.22_0 (active)
>  lighttpd @1.4.15_0+darwin_8
>  lighttpd @1.4.18_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  lynx @2.8.6rel.5_0+ssl (active)
>  lzo @1.08_0 (active)
>  lzo2 @2.02_1+darwin_8
>  lzo2 @2.02_2+darwin_8 (active)
>  m4 @1.4.10_0
>  m4 @1.4.10_1 (active)
>  m4 @1.4.9_0
>  mhash @0.9.9_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  mpfr @2.2.1_1+darwin_8
>  mpfr @2.3.0_1+darwin_8
>  mpfr @2.3.0_2+darwin_8
>  mpfr @2.3.0_4+darwin_8 (active)
>  MPlayer @1.0rc1_4+darwin_8+darwin_powerpc+macosx (active)
>  ncurses @5.6_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  ncursesw @5.6_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  neon @0.26.3_0
>  neon @0.26.3_1
>  neon @0.26.4_0 (active)
>  netpbm @10.26.42_0+darwin_8
>  netpbm @10.26.44_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  nmap @4.20_0
>  nmap @4.20_1 (active)
>  opencdk @0.5.13_0
>  opencdk @0.6.4_0 (active)
>  openssl @0.9.8e_0+darwin_8
>  openssl @0.9.8g_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  orbit2 @2.14.10_1 (active)
>  orbit2 @2.14.7_0
>  orbit2 @2.14.9_1
>  p5-getopt-long @2.36_0
>  p5-getopt-long @2.37_0
>  p5-locale-gettext @1.05_0 (active)
>  p5-pathtools @3.25_0
>  p5-test-harness @2.64_0
>  p5-test-harness @2.64_1
>  p5-test-simple @0.70_0
>  p5-test-simple @0.72_0
>  p5-xml-namespacesupport @1.09_0 (active)
>  p5-xml-parser @2.34_3
>  p5-xml-parser @2.34_4 (active)
>  p5-xml-sax @0.16_0
>  p5-xml-sax @0.16_1 (active)
>  p5-xml-simple @2.16_0
>  p5-xml-simple @2.18_0 (active)
>  pango @1.16.4_0
>  pango @1.16.5_0
>  pango @1.18.1_0
>  pango @1.18.2_0
>  pango @1.18.3_0 (active)
>  pcre @7.1_1+utf8
>  pcre @7.2_0+utf8
>  pcre @7.3_0
>  pcre @7.4_0 (active)
>  pear-base @1.4.9_1
>  pear-base @1.6.2_0 (active)
>  perl5.8 @5.8.8_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  php5 @5.2.3_0+darwin_8+macosx
>  php5 @5.2.4_0+darwin_8+macosx
>  php5 @5.2.4_1+darwin_8+macosx (active)
>  pkgconfig @0.21_0
>  pkgconfig @0.22_0 (active)
>  poppler @0.5.4_0
>  poppler @0.6_0 (active)
>  poppler-data @0.1_0 (active)
>  popt @1.11_1
>  popt @1.12_0 (active)
>  potrace @1.7_0 (active)
>  PreferencePanes @1.0.1_0 (active)
>  psutils @p17_0 (active)
>  pwgen @1.15_2
>  pwgen @2.06_0
>  pwgen @2.06_1 (active)
>  py-xml @0.8.4_0 (active)
>  py25-cairo @1.4.0_0
>  py25-cairo @1.4.0_1 (active)
>  py25-gobject @2.12.3_0
>  py25-gobject @2.14.0_0 (active)
>  py25-gtk @2.10.4_0
>  py25-gtk @2.12.0_0 (active)
>  py25-numeric @24.2_0+macosx
>  py25-numeric @24.2_1+macosx (active)
>  python24 @2.4.4_1+darwin_8 (active)
>  python25 @2.5.1_1+darwin_8
>  python25 @2.5.1_2+darwin_8 (active)
>  qemu @0.9.0_1+darwin_8+macosx (active)
>  qt3-mac @3.3.8_0 (active)
>  rb-actionmailer @1.3.3_0 (active)
>  rb-actionpack @1.13.3_0 (active)
>  rb-actionwebservice @1.2.3_0 (active)
>  rb-activerecord @1.15.3_0 (active)
>  rb-activesupport @1.4.2_0 (active)
>  rb-dbi @0.1.1_1 (active)
>  rb-fcgi @0.8.6_0 (active)
>  rb-rails @1.2.3_0 (active)
>  rb-rake @0.7.3_0 (active)
>  rb-rubygems @0.9.4_0 (active)
>  readline @5.2.001_0
>  readline @5.2.007_0 (active)
>  render @0.9_0
>  render @0.9_1 (active)
>  ruby @1.8.6-p110_0+thread_hooks (active)
>  ruby @1.8.6_0
>  ruby @1.8.6_0+thread_hooks
>  sqlite3 @3.4.0_0+darwin_8
>  sqlite3 @3.4.0_1+darwin_8
>  sqlite3 @3.4.1_0+darwin_8
>  sqlite3 @3.4.2_0+darwin_8
>  sqlite3 @3.4.2_1+darwin_8
>  sqlite3 @3.5.1_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  subversion @1.4.4_0
>  subversion @1.4.5_0 (active)
>  teTeX @3.0_4 (active)
>  texi2html @1.76_3 (active)
>  texinfo @4.11_0 (active)
>  texinfo @4.8_2
>  texinfo @4.9_0
>  tiff @3.8.2_0+darwin_8
>  tiff @3.8.2_1+darwin_8+macosx (active)
>  watch @3.2.1_0
>  watch @3.2.7_0 (active)
>  wget @1.10.2_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  windowmaker @0.92.0_2 (active)
>  wireshark @0.99.5_0+darwin_8
>  wireshark @0.99.6_0+darwin_8 (active)
>  wm-extra @0.1_2 (active)
>  xfcalendar @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce-mcs-manager @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce-mcs-plugins @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce-utils @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-appfinder @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-icon-theme @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-iconbox @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-panel @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-systray @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-toys @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfce4-trigger-launcher @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfdesktop @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xffm @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xfprint @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  Xft2 @2.1.12_0 (active)
>  Xft2 @2.1.7_0
>  xfwm4 @4.2.4_0
>  xfwm4 @4.2.4_2 (active)
>  xfwm4-themes @4.2.4_0 (active)
>  xmlcatmgr @2.2_0
>  xmlcatmgr @2.2_1 (active)
>  xmlto @0.0.18_2
>  xmlto @0.0.18_3 (active)
>  xorg-util-macros @1.1.5_0 (active)
>  xorg-xproto @7.0.10_0
>  xorg-xproto @7.0.11_0 (active)
>  xrender @0.9.0_0+darwin_8
>  xrender @0.9.0_1+darwin_8 (active)
>  zlib @1.2.3_1 (active)
>
> How do I get rid of inactive, duplicate versions of ports that I  
> have installed without hitting the dependency wall?
>
> For example, I have numerous versions of GTK installed:
>
>  gtk2 @2.10.13_0
>  gtk2 @2.10.14_0
>  gtk2 @2.12.0_0
>  gtk2 @2.12.1_0 (active)
>
> Though I should only need the latest which is active.
>
> A "sudo port uninstall inactive" doesn't do the job. I have the  
> feeling that macports is adding stuff to my system with every  
> upgrade without getting rid of the old stuff and eating away at my  
> hard drive space. What's the best way to solve this problem?
>
> thanks for your help,
>
> Tobias W.

wont sudo port -df uninstall inactive do it?
in the future instead of doing sudo port install foo
why dont you use
sudo port -duf foo
which will uninstall the old version of foo,
but -warning- Im new here myself. :)