/lib/modules space hack

I made / too small for xubuntu and had trouble upgrading my kernel from 2.6.20-15 to 2.6.20-16.

dpkg: error processing 
/var/cache/apt/archives/linux-restricted-modules-2.6.20-16-generic_2.6.20.5-16.29_i386.deb 
(--unpack):
 failed in buffer_write(fd) (9, ret=-1): backend dpkg-deb during 
`./lib/linux-restricted-modules/2.6.20-16-generic/nvidia_legacy/nv-kernel.o': 
No space left on device

The issue was that /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic was taking up too much space (~100M):

$ df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1             236M  214M  9.4M  96% /
varrun                375M  100K  375M   1% /var/run
varlock               375M     0  375M   0% /var/lock
procbususb            375M  100K  375M   1% /proc/bus/usb
udev                  375M  100K  375M   1% /dev
devshm                375M     0  375M   0% /dev/shm
lrm                   375M   33M  342M   9% /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile
/dev/sda7              20G  1.4G   18G   8% /home
/dev/sda5             4.6G  2.3G  2.1G  53% /usr
/dev/sda6             1.9G  800M  982M  45% /var

My klugey fix (this system wasn't too important) was to "rm -r /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic" (after I tared it up on another partition). There were complaints about not being able to remove volatile but I was counting on that and left it, everything else made way. I did this while running the 2.6.20-15 kernel; I figured that what I would need for this operation was in RAM. The upgrade worked so I was then able to boot off of the 2.6.20-16 kernel. I then removed the 2.6.20-15 kernel. I guess I only have room for one at a time.

$ sudo dpkg -r linux-image-2.6.20-15-generic
Password:
(Reading database ... 102721 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-image-2.6.20-15-generic ...
Running postrm hook script /sbin/update-grub.
You shouldn't call /sbin/update-grub. Please call /usr/sbin/update-grub instead!

Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic
Found kernel: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

The link /vmlinuz.old is a damaged link
Removing symbolic link vmlinuz.old 
Unless you used the optional flag in lilo, 
 you may need to re-run your boot loader[lilo]
The link /initrd.img.old is a damaged link
Removing symbolic link initrd.img.old 
Unless you used the optional flag in lilo, 
 you may need to re-run your boot loader[lilo]