What does 'apt autoremove' do?

The command 'apt autoremove' is used in Debian-based Linux distributions to remove packages that were automatically installed to satisfy dependencies for other packages but are no longer needed. This situation often arises when you uninstall a package that had a number of dependent packages that aren't required by any other installed software.

When you run 'apt autoremove', it scans the list of installed packages and identifies those that can be safely removed, helping to free up disk space and keep the system clean from unwanted or unutilized software. This is an important maintenance task that helps ensure system efficiency and avoids clutter from obsolete packages.

The other choices relate to functionalities of the APT package management system but do not correspond to what 'apt autoremove' does. For instance, updating the APT database or interacting with the purchase of software packages are handled by different commands within the APT suite, while showing active processes is unrelated to package management.