jrsilvey instead of uninstalling all unwanted software per computer you were to come up with a list of software you didn't use
Indeed. I didn't describe my idea in that level of detail, but of course it would create a list of software not considered to be worth retaining. Then the user could delete from that list whatever might still be needed later. Finally, those items and their dependents (not needed elsewhere) would be removed. After what could be a lengthy task after the first application of the tool, that list should be very short the next time.
The utility would need to be able to avoid removing things that the user hadn't used during that period, but also avoid removing important things that the system hadn't used. For example, fsck
. It could be very much needed the next day.
By the time such a program were fully sorted, it would represent a great deal of analysis and coding, but think of all the work it would save every Linux user world-wide. And even if it erred on the safe side, and left a few items that couldn't be positively identified as unnecessary, it might still remove 99% of the trash.
These ideas are the result of a few minutes of casual thought. I'm sure that more would emerge from a careful analysis.