[xp84]

I'll have to check that installer trick the next time I use one.

Isn't the "Receipts" folder that so angered OP kind of that same thing? I thought those included the list of files installed.

In general, I think some worries about removing "every trace" are overblown, though. The receipts, for instance, are inert and they're not filling up the disk or consuming RAM.

Of all the things Apple does in the name of "security" it's funny to me that they've never even tried to build uninstallation functionality. Even though a majority of apps with "Installers" use, not arbitrary installer executables like Windows, but .pkg files that open with Apple's "Installer" app. That means it's Apple's code placing most of those files in place, and even if the install includes a "script" portion, it seems like a solvable problem that Installer.app could monitor the files being added or changed by the script process, to at least let you view a log of what happened if not reverse the changes.

[prerok]

There are two cases: I am uninstalling because I never want to use the app, or I am uninstalling because I know I currently don't need the app and will reinstall after 6 months when I do.

An example of first is a trial of an app but you don't like it in the end, an example of the latter is a game that you might want to play with the same settings later.

Now, I want the option. In the first case I don't want these inert files taking up disk space and in the second I want to have those files.

[al_borland]

I stopped trying new apps as often, because I don't like how I can never really go back to a state before it was installed, unless the developer actually put effort into not spraying files everything and not leaving a trace once gone. I appreciate these developers very much, and am more likely to keep using their apps. The most junk an app install puts on my system, the more likely I am to want it gone.

[gopher_space]

> In general, I think some worries about removing "every trace" are overblown, though.

It's impossible to overstate how little I want random crap on my machine.