http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=31814
Bug #: 31814 Summary: Gecko should clean up when upgrading Product: Wine-gecko Version: unspecified Platform: x86-64 OS/Version: Linux Status: NEW Keywords: download, source Severity: enhancement Priority: P5 Component: wine-gecko-unknown AssignedTo: jacek@codeweavers.com ReportedBy: kennybobs@o2.co.uk Classification: Unclassified
As you move from one version of Gecko to another (by upgrading Wine), the number of times Gecko is installed increases. Gecko should remove the old versions if they are no longer needed.
$ rm -rf ~/.wine ; wine-git wineboot ; du -s ~/.wine 234680 /home/test/.wine
$ rm -rf ~/.wine ; wine-1.1.25 wineboot ; sleep 4s ; wine-1.2.3 wineboot ; sleep 4s ; wine-1.3.20 wineboot ; sleep 4s ; wine-1.5.6 wineboot ; sleep 4s ; wine-1.5.12 wineboot ; sleep 4s ; du -s ~/.wine 369400 /home/test/.wine
At the moment the amount of additional disk space isn't enormous, but if multiple users are updating Wine on the same machine the amount of disc space used can increase dramatically.
The uninstall from the Control Panel just removes the listing, it doesn't actually delete any files.
In real world use I don't think people will be updating in the fashion shown above, but it may be something worth thinking about.