Does Linux Mint need a CCleaner type program?

Topic

New Reply

I was curious as to whether Linux Mint would benefit from a CCleaner type program.  So I googled “CCleaner for Linux Mint” and by far the most recommended program was BleachBit and I read lots of good reasons to have it and use it.  It was referred to as the CCleaner for Linux.  A little later I went to the Linux Mint website to see what they said about it and there the most common advice was to stay away from BleachBit because it’s not needed and can be harmful or dangerous if you’re not very careful.

Since BleachBit showed up on my Linux Mint Software Downloader, I had gotten it and installed it.  I picked only the safe easy items to clean and ran a “Preview” scan which came up with around 88 MB of stuff it thought could be deleted.  I did not proceed any further and did not run the cleaner to actually delete anything, just closed it and got out of the program.

So, what is the real story with BleachBit?  Is it a good thing or bad?  I sure hate when I get conflicting reviews about things like this and thought I’d run it by on this site since there are very smart and experienced people here.  Thanks for any advice one way or another you can give.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

1 user thanked author for this post.

Lars220

Reply | Quote

Replies

I’ve found BB to be no more harmful than CC after using it for several years on both Windows & Linux. BB and CC both generally run under User privileges, not admin, so their exposure to the OS itself and possible damage is fairly low.

3 users thanked author for this post.

rc primak, GreatAndPowerfulTech, Charlie

Reply | Quote

After searching and reading more info. about CC and BB I see that as with CC, there are people who either like it or dislike it.  I’ve been using CC since 2012, like it, and have never had a problem with it.  But there are some who say it’s dangerous too.  Inexperience I guess.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

Reply | Quote

if you like using either CC or BB (or even both) on your Linux system, keep using it

Reply | Quote

Charlie wrote:

I’ve been using CC since 2012, like it, and have never had a problem with it.  But there are some who say it’s dangerous too.  Inexperience I guess.

Perhaps those who say it is “dangerous” have more experience than you, not less.

System tools that “do everything” usually also do things that don’t need to be done.

In the hands of someone who blindly trusts the tool because they don’t understand the underlying architecture (or know how to use the tools included or embedded in the operating system), these “do everything” toolsets can be dangerous indeed.

1 user thanked author for this post.

rc primak

Reply | Quote

You’re right, I should not have put that “Inexperience I guess” in there.  My bad.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

1 user thanked author for this post.

SueW

Reply | Quote

I have been using Bleachbit since I had Linux Mint 18.1 and I now have LM19.2, and I agree that there are many pros and cons. I am always very careful to uncheck all questionable boxes, here are two links to websites about Linux and Bleachbit that disagree:

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/clean-mint.html

above recommends NOT using Bleachbit, and has a long list of other cleaning methods, while the 2daygeek website has a detailed how to use Bleachbit for Linux.  Bottom line = be careful.

https://www.2daygeek.com/bleachbit-system-cleaner-junk-files-ubuntu-debian-fedora-opensuse-arch-linux-mint/

Amazing Truths Revealed: Link to Simply Magnificent AskWoody Knowledge Bases

2 users thanked author for this post.

rc primak, Charlie

Reply | Quote

Given the general recommendation to “be careful” I would not recommend either CC or BB. There are plenty of simple ways to check disk space and on an SSD we don’t care about temp files as they don’t affect speed.

cheers, Paul

2 users thanked author for this post.

Charlie, jburk07

Reply | Quote

I’ve been successfully running CCleaner for years–both on Windows 7 and on a friend’s Windows 10 system. I dual boot Windows 7 and Linux, and I’ve been successfully running CCleaner on Windows 7 and BleachBit on Linux. I have only two words of caution about both CCleaner and Bleachbit: 1. Be careful when selecting which items to clean. 2. Realize that not running these programs is more dangerous than running either of them. I always run them immediately after closing a browser. You should, too.

1 user thanked author for this post.

rc primak

Reply | Quote

Pointedly wrote:

2. Realize that not running these programs is more dangerous than running either of them. I always run them immediately after closing a browser. You should, too.

Why?

#2 is a very strong statement, and I strongly disagree with it.

2 users thanked author for this post.

rc primak, SueW

Reply | Quote

jabeattyauditor wrote:

Pointedly wrote:

2. Realize that not running these programs is more dangerous than running either of them. I always run them immediately after closing a browser. You should, too.

Why?

#2 is a very strong statement, and I strongly disagree with it.

I acknowledge that running CCleaner or Bleachbit can be dangerous if inappropriate items have been selected for cleaning. As far as my recommendation to always run one of these programs immediately after closing a browser, I’ll back off on that a bit. Nevertheless, if a user runs freeware virus scanning and freeware anti-spyware programs that do not do real-time scanning and blocking of viruses and spyware, running CCleaner or Bleachbit immediately after closing a browser is a good idea. To test this, close your browser after an online session, and do not run CCleaner or Bleachbit. Then run a freeware anti-spyware program such as SUPERAntiSpyware to see what you have on your computer. Yes, after the anti-spyware scan, you could go through the process of removing what has been flagged as potential spyware, However, if (immediately after closing your browser) you run CCleaner or Bleachbit and then run your anti-spyware program, it’s unlikely that your anti-spyware program will find anything at all, since CCleaner or Bleachbit has already removed it. I find it easier and faster to run CCleaner or Bleachbit than to scan and remove spyware using my freeware anti-spyware software after a browsing session.

Reply | Quote

I was cautious when I first started using CCleaner on Win 7, and tweaked it suit what I wanted to get rid of.  This was always a lot of left overs from Firefox.  I also like the tools in CC that make it convenient to delete individual old restore points, disable/enable scheduled tasks, and lots more.  I have a lot more experience with Windows and know what I’m doing.

Linux Mint is fairly new to me and is probably going to take quite a while for me to know what half of what I’m looking at does or means.  I’m planning to be very careful with BB until I get to know more about what I’m doing.  I keep reading and learning new things all the time.  Thanks to all for your replies, they’re very much appreciated.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

Reply | Quote

Yes, Charlie, Bleachbit doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as CCleaner, but some of CCleaner’s bells and whistles are not needed in Linux. Bleachbit will do a good job of removing the junk that is left over by your browser–just as CCleaner does.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Charlie

Reply | Quote

I much prefer to use the CLI opposed to bleachbit on linux distro’s, bleachbit can screw your system if certain things are done with root (admin) privs. However, there are commands to use that will clean caches/temp files available for your distro of choice.

For cache cleaning (debian)

sudo sh -c "sync; echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"

I saved in a notepad equivalent with the terminal(CLI) open and copy and paste them across on internet session end.
Also Synaptics Package Mangager has a clean facility within to keep things trim as well as fixing broken packages.
Linux is not Windows, it’s far better at file/package management and rarely needs cleansing.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

2 users thanked author for this post.

Charlie, jburk07

Reply | Quote

Microfix wrote:

I save them in a notepad equivalent with the terminal(CLI) open and copy and paste them across on internet session end.

Why not just script them and have them run automatically when you close your browser?

2 users thanked author for this post.

rc primak, Microfix

Reply | Quote

The BleachBit installed two icons – one for the user account and one for Root.  I had no intention of using the Root cleaner unless I really had a need to, and it sounds like it isn’t necessary.  There is a category called Apt with things to check that I’m not sure about.  Is that a safe thing to do under the User cleaner?

I’m planning to do a bare minimum scan/clean the first time until I learn more about what’s being cleaned out.  I am a very cautious person.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

1 user thanked author for this post.

rc primak

Reply | Quote

Part of being “cautious” is to have a very recent backup of your Linux partition/partitions prior to doing anything that is experimental.

1 user thanked author for this post.

rc primak

Reply | Quote

[rc primak]

Bleachbit is very, very flexible It would take me a few chapters in a book to convey all the cleaning operations it can do, and what the pros and cons are of each and every one. Let it suffice to say that, in the hands of a user who knows what he/she/they are doing bleachbit is a great tool. In inexperienced or careless hands, it can become a tool of great destruction.

There is also Ubuntu Cleaner (based on Janitor), useful for cleaning up old kernels and “apt cruft” which accumulates and is not regularly cleaned by Ubuntu. (Not applicable to other Linux distros, as Ubuntu is highly unusual in its housekeeping inefficiencies in these areas.)

For one-button or limited user interaction cleaning, there’s also Stacer (https://github.com/oguzhaninan/Stacer) with its nice, clean GUI. But because it has a simplified user interface, Stacer can hide a lot of what it is about to do, leaving users vulnerable to system damages.

I treat web browsers in Linux just as I treat them in all other OSes — as separate cleanup projects, cleaned by extensions and manually, exactly the same for any OS in which they may live. The same applies to browser extensions which prevent the accumulation of cruft in the first place — treat Linux with the same respect you would treat Windows or Mac OS.

Otherwise, CLI commands or BASH scripts or Cron Jobs and Synaptic Package Manager tools are sufficient for most spot-cleaning. Along with tools embedded in Nautilus or other File Managers. Don’t forget to clean out your Downloads Directory from time to time. (Scripts for cleaning are often written in Python, which I detest because Python scripts can easily become buggy over time, as OS changes accumulate through system updates.)

And yes, Linux does need data and settings backups as well as system backups. How you do these tasks depends on how you organize your data, your directories and your settings. One catch-all backup program for Linux is Aptik-gtk  (https://www.tecmint.com/aptik-a-tool-to-backuprestore-your-favourite-ppas-and-apps-in-ubuntu/ ), though it costs a one-time donation to use.  Also useful are RSync-based tools, and Back in Time (https://backintime.readthedocs.io/en/latest/).

If I want a clone to restore to exactly the same partition, I use Clonezilla Live booted from a USB stick. If the partition is moved or resized, it’s best to rebuild using the data and settings tools, plus a package manger readable list of installed software and markings. (Synaptic with its GUI version works really well for this when used properly. In other distros like Fedora/Red Hat, DNF is similarly equipped, but is CLI driven. It uses Installed Packages and Installation History.)

The usual suspects for Cloud Backup are also available in many cases for Linux. Data doesn’t care about File Systems, but it does care about user vigilance! Multiple copies in multiple locations. And ideally, a Password Manager for privacy and safety. And back up that database too!

These are some of the tools I’ve used successfully in Ubuntu LTS and Fedora current versions. Some disasters are still going to happen, but you don’t have to lose data to any disaster in Linux, Windows or any OS.

 

-- rc primak

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by rc primak.

2 users thanked author for this post.

rodcallen, Charlie

Reply | Quote