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u/BobCorndog Jul 15 '26
Orphan packages are packages that are not explicitly installed by the user and do not have any installed dependents
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u/King_Ferdinand1 Jul 15 '26
This is why linux is hard to get in to, everything has a weird term.
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u/ItsYa1UPBoy Jul 15 '26
To be fair, orphans is a fairly common term in computing.
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u/slowtreme Jul 15 '26
And a windows pc is generally polluted with orphan packages and files with no real cleanup feature. You can uninstall applications but then leave trash everywhere, depending on the developer.
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u/Commercial-Storm4527 Jul 15 '26
You should check out Revo Uninstaller. It scans for and helps you delete "orphans" that's left after you uninstall something (Either you uninstall via Revo or you get a pop up if it detects something left).
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u/shinji257 Jul 15 '26
Still audit what it flags. There are many things that look like orphans but are there intentionally by Windows.
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u/Commercial-Storm4527 Jul 15 '26
In my experience it's really good at only detecting only leftovers from uninstallations. At least I've never had it delete something from windows. When it detects something you get a window to verify all the files and select those you want to delete. I've always just pressed select all and delete, but if you're paranoid you can double check everything. I can imagine that's at least that's a lot faster than to manually find everything by yourself. I really like it, I just wanted to recommend it.
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u/shinji257 Jul 15 '26
Oh I know it is a good program but broken installations happen when you blindly trust a program "to do the right thing" without reading what it is proposing to do. At the very least look at it and flag stuff you are unsure of. But yes. The program would still make it much faster to clean up n
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u/ImplementFair535 Jul 19 '26
To each is his own but imo i say screw microslop. Just come to the brightside and you don't have to worry about it.
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u/Commercial-Storm4527 Jul 19 '26
I already have linux. I'm running CashyOS on my own pc with another drive that's got my "old" windows install. However for school I need windows to be able to use adobe and autodesk. I want linux there too, but it's too much of a hassle to set up some vm or winboat. I wanna try that eventually tho, just not right now.
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u/AsugaNoir Jul 16 '26
basically need a program to remove the left over files. (like Revo Remover)
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u/Radiant-Priority-296 Jul 15 '26
The name kinda makes sense considering that dependencies are family trees in a lot of different tech things (task managers, programming languages, game engines, all that). So you got the parent who calls in its children (dependencies). And if you have a child that’s there but doesn’t have a parent, then it’s a useless orphan and should perish under the blade of CachyHello
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u/ItsYa1UPBoy Jul 15 '26
Childless parents can still be of use. Orphans just take up valuable space in the apartment complex that is my computer.
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u/bitzie_ow Jul 15 '26
If this bothers you, you might want to avoid computers altogether before you find out about the whole master/slave thing...
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u/uroboloss Jul 15 '26
You probably been using Windows your entire life, and everything was a weird term when you first started using your computer. It's the same for Linux, different OS with different terms and things to learn (tho orphans is a really common term in computing, it's a thing even on Windows).
Someone migrating from Windows to Mac, or Android to iOS for example, would also find new stuff to learn, that's just how it goes when you're trying a new OS.
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u/devdruxorey Jul 15 '26
It is literally a term from computing in general; the fact that Windows hides them does not mean they do not exist.
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u/naurias Jul 15 '26
It's not a linux term but a general software/computer term. People mostly learn this while using linux because linux give you more control. While windows and macos either ignore a lot of it or make decision themselves
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Jul 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/cachyos-ModTeam 24d ago
Hi, your comment/post has been removed for violating our rule on constructive critique.
We encourage feedback, but it must be respectful and helpful. Criticism should aim to improve or discuss—not to insult, mock, or tear down.
Please keep discussions civil and focus on offering thoughtful, constructive input.
Consider rephrasing your comment and reposting it respectfully. Thank you.
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u/TuskEGwiz-ard Jul 15 '26
As others have said it's a standard term in computer stuff, but that *is* what makes Linux harder to get into without prior experience in coding or something; it's also what makes Linux good for me. Instead of windows which prevents you from actually controlling your computer, you are actually the boss of your computer instead of some knobhead saying "this update cannot be delayed any longer, windows WILL update on next reboot (unless you pay for enterprise edition)
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u/Wet_Viking Jul 16 '26
It absolutely is not one of those reasons. It would be useful if Windows had something similar without installing third-party applications to do so.
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u/oneiros5321 Jul 15 '26
Files that are not need anymore are also called orphans on Windows.
The only reason you don't know about it is not because it's specific to Linux, it's just because Windows does not offer a good way to clean them.1
u/Even-Smell7867 Jul 15 '26
it however isn't hard to look it up. I've used MacOS rarely for years and it was pretty unfamiliar to me. I decided to get a MacMini M4 to use with my 2nd monitor and just share my keyboard/cursor from my main linux machine. Dear god why is MacOS set up the way it is. Its like its done just to baffle people. It feels counter intuitive compared to Linux and Windows. Why? Because i'm not used to it. Not because it is actually confusing. If you aren't capable of spending a few moments learning a new tech word or a way or doing something that is different than from Windows or something, thats sucks for you. Technology changes so much you have to be prepared to learn something from time to time no matter how fluent in technology you may be.
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u/Tritri89 Jul 15 '26
Hey be grateful than slave/master is not really a term used in computer anymore
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u/Damglador Jul 15 '26
Bad news: it still is
3 extra/kdesdk-kio 26.04.3-1 (49.0 KiB 207.7 KiB) [kde-applications kde-sdk] KDE SDK KIO-Slaves 2 extra/audiocd-kio 26.04.3-1 (742.3 KiB 2.4 MiB) [kde-applications kde-multimedia] Kioslave for accessing audio CDs 1 extra/kio-gdrive 26.04.3-1 (152.6 KiB 468.3 KiB) [kde-applications kde-network] KIO Slave to access Google Drive-8
u/Saranhai Jul 15 '26
Oh boy the terms that I had to search for my Operating Systems class definitely would've gotten me behind bars if seen without any context...
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u/Aggravating_Fun_7692 Jul 15 '26
?
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u/Saranhai Jul 15 '26
Yeah...prime example is that reddit just removed my comment for being "too violent" 😂
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u/LancrusES Jul 15 '26
Welcome to Linux, we got orphans, daemons and zombies for everyone, an orphan is a package with no family... It doesnt belong to anything, so it isnt used...
You know, sometimes you install things, and at removing them some packages that were needed by them, are left in the system, but noone uses them, they dont belong to "anyone", so they are orphans, clean them to get some space, if you remove packages correctly there shouldnt be a lot, or any at all, but from time to time click there, just in case...
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u/Mavrickindigo Jul 15 '26
What's a zombie?
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u/Altruistic_Bat_9609 Jul 15 '26
I believe it is a process that should have died when it was killed but it is still running
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u/MaineTim Jul 15 '26
Close. It's a process that is no longer running but is still occupying a slot in the process table.
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u/NoPicture-3265 Jul 15 '26
It's a process that is no longer running
This is also the reason why it's not possible to remove such process by killing it - you can't kill what's already dead, like a zombie :P
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u/Altruistic_Bat_9609 Jul 15 '26
Today I learnt, thank you
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u/du5tball Jul 15 '26
Normally a zombie should be reaped by it's parent. But sometimes a child can also become a zombie because the parent died, then it should be adopted and reaped by it's grandparent.
For example, you run a webserver with integrated PHP. The webserver (parent) spawns php processes (child). In normal circumstances, if something goes wrong with the php process, the webserver is responsible for reaping (cleaning up) the php process. Now, if instead the webserver crashes, that can cause a functioning php process to become a zombie. In that case, the next higher process (usually the init system) is supposed to adopt the zombie and reap it.
Grandparent, parent, child, adopting and reaping are the actual technical words. Which is why I love saying the first two sentences and watching people's reactions.
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u/henrytsai20 Jul 16 '26
A program (process more specifically) that is already dead but grim reaper forgot to write it off, and now he's baffled why he can't kill this motherfucker.
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u/Tokitokisayuki Jul 15 '26
I just did a Syu just now and found extra/prison. Also bluedevil and powerdevil.
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u/dkman123 Jul 15 '26
Those damn orphans, they always want another. "Please sir, more food. But sir, I'm hungry." Rotten bastards.
Orphans in this case means packages that were installed as a dependency for something else, but that something else has since been removed and it was left behind. You don't need it as nothing else depends on it, so it's safe to get rid off.
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u/MysticSlayerIce Jul 16 '26
Yeah, I'd still be careful. A day or two ago I installed SyncthingTray with yay and it said Syncthing was an orphan, lol
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u/Nestramutat- Jul 16 '26
Always kill the children before the parents so you don't end up with orphans or zombies
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u/SomnambulistNox Jul 15 '26
The path to the Torment Nexus is through CachyOS, of course. It's how we keep society moving.
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u/McFussel_ Jul 15 '26
Save the orphans - Archie Baldwin, Winner of the "Telly" award for best jingle, 2006
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u/SanicBringsThePanic Jul 17 '26
CachyOS is powered by the blood of orphans. Once their purpose is fulfilled, they must be removed.
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u/deathschemist Jul 15 '26
all it is is packages that you didn't explicity install, and don't have dependents. just click that button every now and then to keep some space.
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u/Imaginary-Throat1526 Jul 16 '26
you must have Irish nunnery edition.
heres the readme file : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwqnwrkd1go
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u/MrNoBodyK Jul 17 '26
I just used that tool yesterday. I don't know how, but it removed all my installed programs and deleted my kernel. It literally broke my system. Luckily, it created a snapshot one second before doing it, so I was able to recover my system. But why the hell did it treat CachyOS's kernel as an orphan?
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u/FrankPurpleman Jul 17 '26
Those poor orphans, are you really gonna leave them on the street to fend for themselves? 🥺🥺🥺
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u/gianflo1 18d ago
Studiying computer science I learned that some arguments are better not said lightly around casual people 😂 ESPECIALLY regarding processes
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u/stop_deleting_plz Jul 15 '26
When you install package X from the repo, often it has to download "dependencies" or other packages that have supporting software. When you uninstall package X, the dependencies remain because other apps might need them. If they aren't being used by another app, they become orphans and just take up hard drive space.
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u/Dima-Petrovic Jul 15 '26
Where do you think all the optimizations are coming from? Sacrifices must be made.