what is the purpose of the files in this directory: /var/lib/apt/lists? [closed]

linux lubuntu HD4000 intel ivy-bridge 8gb 1600 ram.

I am getting a duplicate entry error message from synaptic package manager and it says the problem is there. I am wondering a few things:

1. What this directory is.

2. Whether it safe to simply delete the offending duplicates from there.

3. Whether this is a useful new discovery... Is this where all the packages I have no use for end up and something I can edit to suit my fancy in the long run? It would be nice to be able to reduce the clutter in my package manager. Especially find a way to get rid of all the 32 bit stuff or older versions of programs I have downloaded manually elsewhere.

I had meant to post this in linux! So if this is wrong place let me know and I will move it there!

Solution 1:

From man apt-get

/var/lib/apt/lists/
Storage area for state information for each package resource
specified in sources.list(5) Configuration Item: Dir::State::Lists.

/var/lib/apt/lists/partial/
Storage area for state information in transit. Configuration Item:
Dir::State::Lists (partial will be implicitly appended)

So it's something that apt-get update can recreate