[X4U] Receipts: what's their use after unpacking?

[Linda]

On 7/24/05 2:15 PM, Germain M. wrote:

> I was browsing through the system when I noticed a folder called
> "receipts" full of packets. Since I'm new to X, I still have
> "Classic" reactions like freeing some space and deleting installers
> (after archiving) from the HD. What's their use after applications
> have been installed? They occupy a lot of space. I keep them or I can
> delete them? Newbie question...

Hi, Germain --

The receipts don't take up much space relative to the size of new hard
disks... once upon a time, 94 MB (the size of my receipts folder) was a lot,
but on an 80GB disk, it's just a little more than 1 percent. The 17" 1.8GHz
G5 iMac comes with a 160GB hard disk, so you're looking at just a little
more than 1/2 of 1 percent of your disk space being used up by receipts.

When you Repair Permissions using Disk Utility, the Repair Permissions uses
data in your Library/Receipts folder to correctly repair the permissions on
your machine. 

Basically, these "receipts" are just like receipts from a store: You've
installed or updated something, and you got a receipt for it. Your Mac keeps
all of its receipts in this one folder, so that it can keep track of what
has been installed, and when.

The tutorial titled "Prevent Mac Disasters" at macworld.com suggests never
removing anything from this folder.

> iMac G5/1.8 mhz/512 ram

1.8GHz, I think!

bonne chance,
Linda