After little change for years, my system partition has is getting full, most of it seems to be /lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic and similar. Are these old versions of the Linux core? If not what? Can I delete the oldest ones of about 25?
I suggest opening a terminal window (ctl-alt-t) then using this command
sudo apt-get autoremove -y
sudo executes the command following with admin permissions - youāll need to enter your password, as you type nothing will be displayed - remember ti hit enter after typing
apt provides a high-level commandline interface for the package
management system. It is intended as an end user interface and enables
some options better suited for interactive usage by default compared to
more specialized APT tools like apt-get(8) and apt-cache(8).
autoremove (and the auto-remove alias since 1.1)
autoremove is used to remove packages that were automatically
installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages and are now no
longer needed.
-y, --yes, --assume-yes
Automatic yes to prompts; assume āyesā as answer to all prompts and
run non-interactively. If an undesirable situation, such as
changing a held package, trying to install a unauthenticated
package or removing an essential package occurs then apt-get will
abort. Configuration Item: APT::Get::Assume-Yes.
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I was trying to fix someone elseās computer and in a rush to leave, so I didnāt have time to search for help and started this thread instead. Iāve now had time to do a search and have found what appears to be the way to delete the files
Why are these accumulating though?
The thread you referenced is essentially what I posted without the complete explanation of the command.
Why are these accumulating though?
Every time there's some update to your system there a portions of the update that replace the functionality of the existing files. The really nice thing about this type of update is the system maintains the capability to "roll back" to the previous version.
It looked to me as though it would just delete unwanted applications, and I couldnāt try it as I wasnāt near the computer. Iām afraid I assumed you were a āguruā who hadnāt read the question. You know the type - theyāre just out to increase their score. I was wrong on both counts sorry 
Iām glad it helped!
Apology completely unnecessary, but accepted none the less.
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