How do I safely delete a program in Ubuntu?

Question

I just installed 'Sublime Text 3' and for some reason I can't install the 'package manager'. Anyway, I want to try uninstall it but I can't find it in my 'ubuntu software center'.

On this page it says to type this into the command line:

sudo rm -r /opt/Sublime\ Text\ 2
sudo rm /usr/bin/sublime
sudo rm /usr/share/applications/sublime.desktop
sudo sed -i 's/sublime\.desktop/gedit.desktop/g' /usr/share/applications/defaults.list

On this page it says to install synaptic and from there install and remove packages. Or to to delete it with:

sudo apt-get remove --purge <package-name>

On this page it says to use:

sudo apt-get remove sublime-text-installer

if I installed it with (which I didn't but I want to understand this in general):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/sublime-text-3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sublime-text-installer

It also says that if I installed it through 'ubuntu software center' or through running:

sudo dpkg -i sublime-text_build-3047_amd64.deb

Then I should remove it by running:

sudo dpkg -r sublime-text 

Can I always run 'sudo dpkg -r programX' from anywhere in my terminal to remove a program I installed with 'ubuntu sofware center' or with 'sudo dpkg programX.deb'?

Which method should I use to make sure a program is completely deleted? The first instructions make me a bit scared that it is installed all over the place. Why doesn't all installed software come up in 'ubuntu software center'? Is there not one place where I can delete a program like in windows' add/remove programs?

What do I need to know about installing and uninstalling programs in ubuntu (14.04)?

Solution

Assuming you followed the instructions on the github, I would suggest that you use ppa-purge to remove the 'deadsnakes' ppa

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

sudo ppa-purge ppa:fkrull/deadsnakes

Update your path to remove the path extensions added as instructed at the github, and most of lime should be inactive.

As for removing it entirely, the manner in which it was installed may require looking into the makefiles to determine what directories need to be deleted.

Comments

[Abhimanyu]

You can go to software centre> History section and remove the packages individually via Terminal.

[Kriss]

Where in 'ubuntu software center' do I delete 'Sublime text 3'?

[steeldriver]

How exactly did you install it?

[Kriss]

Clicking on the 64bit for linux on sublimetext.com/3 then it poped up in 'ubuntu software center' and I clicked install.

[Kriss]

It does't come up in my history. When I redownload the program and click on the downloaded file 'ubuntu software center' pops up again and asks me if I want to reinstall it. But then it is gone again i.e. no where to be found unless I rerun the downloaded link.

[Abhimanyu]

@Kriss: check my answer. And if you have problems in doing my steps, I am up for more help.

[Abhimanyu]

Not all package names resemble the name of the actual application, so that's why you're having all these problems.

[Kriss]

I cannot find sublime in the list. Do you have any idea what name to look for? for some reason all programs are installed 04.32pm yesterday or on the 22 of july (I reinstalled ubuntu yesterday so 22 of july seems really weird).

[Abhimanyu]

If you're also having problems with dates, I consider doing a separate investigation on that. For your problem: No I cannot think of anything. Can you send me a screenshot of the package names from the time around which you installed Sublime Text 3? You might use imgur.com.

[Kriss]

I was actually wrong about the dates. They do have different times. Here is a screenshot of the last updates changes. I definitely installed it after Java and the icetea plugin. But actually quite a while after; maybe hours. imgur.com/IkR1uSW

[Kriss]

What do you think about these instructions? sudo dpkg -r sublime-text found here: stackoverflow.com/questions/17610913/…. Can I always run 'sudo dpkg -r program' from anywhere in my terminal to remove a program I installed with 'ubuntu sofware center' or with 'sudo dpkg program.deb'?

[Abhimanyu]

So you mean this: 1. You installed icetea before Sublime. 2. You cannot find any package after icetea. 3. That means you didn't install anything after icetea. I'm getting a conflict between point number 1 and 3... How's it possible?