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Can't remove virtual package. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

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    Can't remove virtual package. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

    Reviewing a new install, I have a habit of removing anything I don't need. For example, too much stuff is installed for laptop users and I have a desktop and video and device drivers that will never be in my computer.

    This morning I attempted to remove all the Wacom stuff - just 5-6 files - because I don't have a Wacom device and never will.

    It cannot be done - try it. If I'm doing something wrong, I'd like to know.

    [RANT] This sort of crap smacks of Winblows/OS developer overload. How big is your ego to decide that the whole world needs your crap device driver whether or not you want it? This is in direct opposition of what linux is supposed to be about and why I prefer linux. [/RANT]

    What it boils down to is circular/false dependencies of the virtual package (libwacom2) and libwacom-common. Attempting to remove either results in:
    Code:
    stuart@office:~$ sudo apt remove libwacom2
    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree       
    Reading state information... Done
    Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
    requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
    distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
    or been moved out of Incoming.
    The following information may help to resolve the situation:
    
    
    The following packages have unmet dependencies:
     khelpcenter : Depends: libkf5completion5 (>= 4.97.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5configgui5 (>= 4.97.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5configwidgets5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5iconthemes5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5kcmutils5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5kdelibs4support5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5khtml5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5kiowidgets5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5parts5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5widgetsaddons5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5windowsystem5 (>= 4.96.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libkf5xmlgui5 (>= 4.98.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                            libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed
                   Depends: libqt5widgets5 (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libgrantlee-textdocument5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                          libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkaccounts1 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                              libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
                     Recommends: kaccounts-providers but it is not going to be installed
     libkdecorations2-5v5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libkdecorations2private5v5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                                           libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5contacts5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5emoticons-bin : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                    libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5emoticons5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                 libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5kdcraw5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                              libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5people5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                              libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5prison1 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                              libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5waylandclient5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkf5waylandserver5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkwinxrenderutils7 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libkwinxrenderutils8 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libpoppler-qt5-1 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                 libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libqmenumodel0 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                               libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libqt5multimedia5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                                  libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.2.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libqt5waylandclient5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.5.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                                     libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.5.0) but it is not going to be installed
     libqt5x11extras5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                 libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     libubuntugestures5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                   libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
                          Depends: libqt5quick5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                   libqt5quick5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     qml-module-org-kde-activities : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                              libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
                                     Depends: libqt5quick5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                              libqt5quick5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     qml-module-ubuntu-layouts : Depends: libqt5quick5 (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed or
                                          libqt5quick5-gles (>= 5.0.2) but it is not going to be installed
     qt5-image-formats-plugins : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                                          libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.3.0) but it is not going to be installed
     qtwayland5 : Depends: libqt5gui5 (>= 5.5.0) but it is not going to be installed or
                           libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.5.0) but it is not going to be installed
    E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.
    While "...you are using the unstable distribution..." is a fair characterization, none of the rest of that stuff is true. There are no "held packages," etc.

    Checking dependencies of libwacom2:
    Code:
    stuart@office:~$ sudo apt-cache depends libwacom2
    libwacom2
      Depends: libc6
      Depends: libglib2.0-0
      Depends: libgudev-1.0-0
      Depends: libwacom-common
      Recommends: libwacom-bin
        libwacom-bin:i386
    which is obviously BS. A virtual package like libwacom2 by it's definition contains nothing. libwacom-common show no depends but it can't be removed either, and that is likely the cause of the problem - it's a circular depends:

    Code:
    stuart@office:~$ sudo dpkg -r libwacom-common
    dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of libwacom-common:
     libwacom2:amd64 depends on libwacom-common (= 0.18-1).
    
    
    dpkg: error processing package libwacom-common (--remove):
     dependency problems - not removing
    Errors were encountered while processing:
     libwacom-common
    Finally, a glimmer of fact:
    Code:
    stuart@office:~$ sudo dpkg -r libwacom2
    dpkg: dependency problems prevent removal of libwacom2:amd64:
     libinput10:amd64 depends on libwacom2 (>= 0.15).
    
    
    dpkg: error processing package libwacom2:amd64 (--remove):
     dependency problems - not removing
    Errors were encountered while processing:
     libwacom2:amd64
    stuart@office:~$

    Shows libinput10 depends on libwacom2. Stupid dependency IMO, but why wasn't that reported at the beginning? And what good is this dependency when I can remove all the drivers and settings for the Wacom devices, just not the virtual package?

    This just irks me.

    Please Read Me

    #2
    I ran into a similar situation a few months ago trying to remove a pkg I tried out. To remove it would remove my KDE desktop! I used rdepends to see its dependency tree, just like you did, and started at the bottom, removing them by force while preventing removal of dependencies. I worked my way up the tree and removed the app. Then I rebuilt the package cache and did a few
    sudo apt-get -f install
    sudo dpkg --configure -a
    to clean things up. Then I used
    sudo apt-get autoremove
    to take out the trash.

    I sympathize with your comments.
    "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
    – John F. Kennedy, February 26, 1962.

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