Is Ubuntu-Desktop, etc. a weakness for Ubuntu?

[darweth]

I guess it seems like it is mainly a setback for 'pro' folks, not newbies. For them it is uber convenient.

But isn't it kind of a pain... how do I remove stuff like rhythmbox and totem while keeping ubuntu-desktop installed so that my updates work? If I ubuntu-desktop, it automatically reinstalls rhythmbox, etc...

[happy-and-lost]

ubuntu-desktop is *only* a metapackage. It's perfectly safe to remove, even if it does sound like it's a big deal. Since when have you needed it for your updates?

[Kindred]

I've heard there is quite high chance of breakage if you don't have this installed when doing a dist-upgrade, think I read something to this effect on some developer mailing list a while back also. It would be nice to get some actual proper clarification of this since this one of the major reasons I would not want to use Ubuntu these days.

[mcduck]

Yes, you need the package for dist-upgrading to new Ubuntu versions. (If you want to do that instead of clean new install. But that's only once every 6 months, other times there is no need to have ubuntu-desktop installed, everything works fine. Just reinstall ubuntu-desktop before you dist-upgrade to Feisty.