I have also noticed that Debian installs a lot of "extra" programs by default. For example, when I installed LXDE using the latest (Debian 7) LXDE CD and, I obtained LibreOffice, Iceweasel and Deluge (among many others), none of which are part of LXDE, and of those, I only wanted Icweasel installed since the beginning. If you want to control more precisely which packages get installed, you can also install a text-only system and then add the additional packages with the package manager. It won't give the same results and isn't as flexible as Debootstrap or Multistrap, of course.It isn't Debian that installs all those packages. It's the DE. All anyone has to do to avoid them is not install a DE. You are given the option. Lisi
Of course it is Debian that installs them!. (*)Note that neither of the packages I mentioned is part of LXDE. When using the Debian 7.2.0 LXDE CD, those packages *are bundled by Debian* along with LXDE in the Debian LXDE Desktop Environment task that the installer offers. Note that this bundling is done by Debian.
Here "desktop environment" can mean 1 of 2 different things. Given the previous clarification, we can now analyze both cases and see that both entail the assertion (*):
(1) If by "desktop environment" you mean LXDE, then no, the desktop environment is not installing the programs I mentioned, as you claimed; it is the Debian installer.
(2) On the other hand, if by "desktop environment" you mean the bundle of software packages that Debian bundles along with LXDE that the Debian LXDE CD installs by default (package "task-lxde-desktop"), then indeed it is the "desktop environment" what installs those programs, but note that this "desktop environment" is a part of Debian, so it follows again that Debian is doing the installation.
-----You said "All anyone has to do to avoid them is not install a DE. You are given the option.". That is right; I never claimed otherwise (furthermore, I alluded to this fact when I mentioned installing a text-only environment and then add additional packages), but your assertion that Debian does not install all those package does not follow (it is a non-sequitur).