Re: archives?

Harmon:
> and looking in /var/cache/apt/archives I'm thinking I don't need all these files
> for anything (and why are they all being stored anyway?) -- so can I just delete
> them?

  this directory holds the .deb packages ( and the partial downloads in
the partial subdirectory ) that have been downloaded. If you happen to
dpkg -r one of them and want to install it again, it will be available
without downloading. It is also great to rollback some faulty upgrades.

  However, you don't need these packages on your intimate. Just make a
copy somewhere or, if your bandwidth is big enough, delete the .deb
files ( not the directory ! ). dselect offers to delete the downloaded
files anyway.

-- 
  Y.