Great tip, but I thought it was going to be how to identify and remove all the digital cruft in your environment. Tools and packages that were tried, abandoned and forgotten.

Anyone have tips like that?

My method: I occasionally do a scorched-earth OS reinstall, and install very few packages and tools on the new installation. When I hit the speedbump of reaching for something naturally, I install it and move on.

It's kind of like a policy of throwing boxes out if you haven't touched them since your last move.

Anyone do anything different? Something more ongoing and less drastic?

Nice trick :) I have already tried before, and I can confirm this. It's a great way to clean computer.