Bug#76219: apt: apt-get dist-upgrade is too agressive in removing packages

[kstar@sri.net]

Package: apt
Version: 0.3.19
Severity: normal

    This just seems wrong to me:

% apt-get -s dist-upgrade
Reading Package Lists...
Building Dependency Tree...
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  xcontrib xcopilot xmanpages xpm4g 
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libxaw-dev libxaw6 libxaw7 xlibs xlibs-dev xutils 
The following packages have been kept back
  task-x-window-system-core 
18 packages upgraded, 6 newly installed, 4 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Remv xcontrib [xtranslate mozilla ]
Remv xcopilot [xtranslate mozilla ]
Remv xmanpages [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst xlib6g-dev [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst xlibs-dev [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst libxaw7 [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst xlib6g [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst libxaw6 [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst libxaw-dev [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst xfree86-common [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Remv xpm4g [communicator-smotif-475 xscreensaver-gl rrdtool xtranslate xbill xtux-client plan gnome-control-center xscreensaver wmaker mozilla librrd0 libgtkxmhtml1 gnome-utils libgd1 gimp icewm tk8.0 librrds-perl xpenguins libwraster2 xemacs21-nomule mosaic ]
Inst xlibs [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst libcapplet0 [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst gnome-control-center [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst gnut [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst libiso2mb0.7 [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst moon-buggy-esd [shellutils on hurd] [xtranslate mozilla ]
Inst xbase-clients [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xchat-common [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xchat-gnome [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xfonts-100dpi [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xfonts-75dpi [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xfonts-base [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xfonts-pex [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xfonts-scalable [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xserver-common [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xterm [shellutils on hurd]
Inst xutils [shellutils on hurd]
Conf xlib6g-dev
Conf xlibs-dev
Conf libxaw7
Conf xlib6g
Conf libxaw6
Conf libxaw-dev
Conf xfree86-common
Conf xlibs
Conf libcapplet0
Conf gnome-control-center
Conf gnut
Conf libiso2mb0.7
Conf moon-buggy-esd
Conf xbase-clients
Conf xchat-common
Conf xchat-gnome
Conf xfonts-100dpi
Conf xfonts-75dpi
Conf xfonts-base
Conf xfonts-pex
Conf xfonts-scalable
Conf xserver-common
Conf xterm
Conf xutils

-- System Information
Debian Release: woody
Kernel Version: Linux ho-tai 2.2.17-idepci #1 Sun Jun 25 01:25:12 MST 2000 i686 unknown

Versions of the packages apt depends on:
ii  libc6          2.1.96-1       GNU C Library: Shared libraries and Timezone
ii  libstdc++2.10  2.95.2-14      The GNU stdc++ library