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Packages "kept back" because a package needs to be removed

Hi all:
I am using Ubuntu MATE 18.04.4, which is somehow based on Debian. I normally add the following PPA to the system in order to use a newer version of LibreOffice: 

https://launchpad.net/~libreoffice/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

I believe that such a PPA is actually nothing more than adding a new package source for APT.

I would rather use LibreOffice "still", instead of "fresh", but there is no such PPA unfortunately.
I have a number family members running such an OS. They are laymen as far as computers are concerned. I have trained them to update their system at regular intervals using the "Software Updater" application, which is /usr/bin/update-manager, described as "GNOME application that manages apt updates". 

I was happily enjoying life, and then I got a report that the "Software Updater" could only do a partial update. In my coffee pause!

I tried the usual stanza:

  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get upgrade --with-new-pkgs
I was then informed that some LibreOffice packages were "kept back". As far as I can remember, I did not get the reason why. That alone would be an improvement to APT. 

Or is there any reason why APT could not be that helpful? I was in my coffee pause after all.

So both the "Software Updater" and apt-get could not really help.

I tried Synaptic, and it somehow knew that package "uno-libs3" had to be uninstalled. Synaptic was able to update the system without any fuss.
The trouble is, my laymen computer users are unable to overcome this issue alone. Synaptic is not an automatic tool for laymen. And my coffee pauses are namely sacred. 

I am guessing that removing a package from a repository, or making it incompatible with the newer version, or whatever, makes APT unhappy.
I already had such an issue with new packages, so I got accustomed to using option --with-new-pkgs . I believe that this is what GNOME "Software Updater" does. But I could not find anything like "--autoremove-packages-if-needed-for-upgrading".
Before reporting this bug to GNOME, Ubuntu, or whoever, I thought it would help to try and gather some extra knowledge here. Those guys tend to say "report it upstream" anyway. 

Thanks in advance,
  rdiez
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