I had this same problem, too. After uninstall failed i wanted to know which files could not be deleted:
$ dpkg -L firestarter /etc/firestarter /etc/firestarter/non-routables /etc/init.d/firestarter Could it be that this problem is related to the fact that firestarter puts new files (configuration for the firewall) into /etc/firestarter. And then the purging routine wants to recursively delete the directory /etc/firestarter which it can't? This would explain your success with the method above, even after reinstallation (since no new config files were created in the meantime). -- Unable to install and then uninstall. https://launchpad.net/bugs/39598 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs