Clean System

Generally speaking, GNU/Linux systems are much more "clean" than Windows ones. If you want to clean up your browser, assuming you have Firefox installed, is by using "Delete personal info" under Tools menu. Another location to clean periodically is /tmp directory.

First:
To clean all cookies and other files in your browser folow the steps in the last comment.

Second:
All temporarity files are stored in /tmp. Every time you reboot this directory is cleaned.

Third:
If you have installed too much packages (for test purposes, for example) you can remove this in Add/Remove Software or in Synaptic.

Four:
All programs you run stores all conf. files in your home directory (/home/username) in subdirs. that begins with a dot (.xmms for example) this are hidden directories. If you uninstall a program you can delete the subdir in your home where this program stores the config.

Best regards,
neuromancer
P.D. Excuse my poor English

You can clean the cache of packages that are downloaded with this command:
sudo apt-get clean

I think what people are saying here is that because of the linux model for users and homes which is enforced somewhat by security policies, most general cruft (rubbish) can only accumulate in your home directory, and not scattered around the system.

To deal with tracking, a function of files sent to the browser, you can generally kill those by wiping your cookies and cache in firefox by clicking on edit->preferences->security, under which are a set of tabs, each with "clear <blah> data now...". Clearing each of those will probably do the job.

Now as for spyware and other malware, linux is generally not a target for two reasons, market share, and security model. It is much harder (but never impossible) to sneak in an unwanted program, as you (generally) need to type in your password to switch to administrator (aka root) to actually install something. There is also no equivalent, as far as I know, to activeX which is a major "window" for malware to get into a system.

I would aslo suggest using the "adblock" and "noscript" extensions for firefox. While Noscript means you have to actively okay sites you trust, it stops those that you dont from running any active scripting technology. These can be obtained in firefox via Tools->Extensions->Get More Extensions.

If these comments solved your problem, please consider closing this request as answered. You can find useful information on managing your support requests here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SupportRequests

If you are still having problems, let us know and we'll keep working on them.

Thanks-

Jim Jones

My sincere thanks to each of you for your help. I managed to clean several files now! Dick