[R-sig-Debian] autoremove_

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

Göran,

Got it now (thanks to a slower/later than usual commute) -- see 'man apt' which has

       autoremove (apt-get(8))
           autoremove is used to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy
           dependencies for other packages and are now no longer needed as dependencies changed or
           the package(s) needing them were removed in the meantime.

           You should check that the list does not include applications you have grown to like even
           though they were once installed just as a dependency of another package. You can mark such
           a package as manually installed by using apt-mark(8). Packages which you have installed
           explicitly via install are also never proposed for automatic removal.

leading 'man apt-mark' with the details and commands.  The actual file is

       /var/lib/apt/extended_states
           Status list of auto-installed packages. Configuration Item: Dir::State::extended_states.

and you can switch the state of auto-installed Suggests: or Recommended:
packages (like r-cran-littler et al in your case) to 'manual' which will
prevent any auto-removal.

Hope this helps, and thanks for bringing this up - had been meaning to look
around for this myself.

Cheers, Dirk

-- 
http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd using debian.org