blog/content/post/do-not-install-recommended-packages.md

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Do Not Install Recommended Packages with APT	2022-07-09T16:26:12+05:30	2022-07-09T16:26:12+05:30	false	apt debian ubuntu		apt	linux		false	false	false	true	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	enable options false	enable options false

This applies only if you use Debian or Ubuntu or any distribution that uses apt package manager.

Normally when you run apt install, it will automatically install a lot of optional packages, without which your intended package will work perfectly fine since these are optional. They just take consume more bandwidth and a lot more diskpace. These will only add up as you update your system over time.

Now, there are two ways to get rid of this behaviour. Pass --no-install-recommends to apt everytime you install a package, or put it in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99-no-install-recommend to avoid typing it every time.

APT::Install-Recommends "false";
APT::Install-Suggests "false";