Comment 7 for bug 363695

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David Taylor (me-davidandrewtaylor) wrote : Re: update-apt-xapian-index uses too much CPU

"At least can somebody tell me why we need this background process at all"

I think it trawls through the titles and descriptions of your apt database of packages making it possible for you to search for packages not just for their title but also by their description. However I think in the past I have been able to search by package descriptions long before this process was crippling my PC.

Anyway my solution is a little less dramatic than uninstalling the thing (if its existence is necessary I don't know, I doubt it but have kept it in case). I just went into the directory /etc/cron.weekly and moved the file apt-xapian-index to the folder /etc/cron.monthly. It still rears its ugly head occasionally but at just six times between releases I can live with it.