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I'm just wondering if there are any linux applications out there that functions like regular system cleaner in windows.

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As honk pointed, most of the cruft that build up on Windows systems can be avoided by using the distribution's tools for software installation (aptitude even have the option to automatically remove packages that are not needed anymore).

That said, BleachBit is an application that tries to cover the other type of cruft or privacy sensitive data (cookies, browser temporary files, cache, etc.). It's also available for Windows.

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If you install your software through some distribution tools like aptitude, yum, synaptics etc. you do not suffer from most of the problems these tools try to solve under windows. There are some distribution-specific tools that can help you remove unneeded software that might have gotten installed as a dependency.

If you install software from source the responsibility to keep things tidy pretty much lies with you.

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Most of the Windows System cleaner apps are fraud, and you shouldn't be using them. Linux doesn't need them either. And if possible, try to install apps from source in /opt/. Also, if you want, you can cleanup the $HOME/tmp directory, from time to time.

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this is only partially valid. Some software e.g. do copy libs to the respective folders to ease up the life for setup scripts. The alternative would be to set (in this example) the LD_LIBRARY_PATH correctly. In either way proper uninstall scripts would be crucial to remove the remains of previous installations. – JumpingPA Mar 5 '10 at 10:21
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