apt-get install -f wants to remove 447 packages

Question

I don't often have to mess with -f so I am a little bit at a loss as to why it is trying to remove so many packages, but I do believe allot of these packages I very much use, apache2, aptitude, cinnamon to mention just a few :O

Currently I am unable to install packages, hence the trying of f

You might want to run 'apt --fix-broken install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 google-cloud-sdk : Depends: python-crcmod but it is not going to be installed
                    Depends: python-google-compute-engine but it is not going to be installed
 zoom : Depends: ibus
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

Remove packages

hutber@hutber:~$ sudo apt-get install -f
[sudo] password for hutber:  
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  apache2-bin apache2-data apache2-utils breeze-icon-theme cabextract chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra dbconfig-common
  dbconfig-mysql exo-utils fish fish-common git-man ipxe-qemu ipxe-qemu-256k-compat-efi-roms kded5 kdenlive-data kinit kio
  liba52-0.7.4 libapr1 libaprutil1 libaprutil1-dbd-sqlite3 libaprutil1-ldap libaribb24-0 libavresample-ffmpeg2
  libbasicusageenvironment1 libcddb2 libdbusmenu-qt5-2 libdca0 libde265-0 libdirectfb-1.7-7 libdvbpsi10 libdvdcss2
  libdvdnav4 libdvdread4 libebml4v5 libebur128-1 libenca0 liberror-perl libexo-1-0 libexo-common libexo-helpers libfaad2
  libfdk-aac1 libfdt1 libfm-data libfm-gtk-data libgksu2-0 libgnome-keyring-common libgnome-keyring0 libgroupsock8
  libgtop-2.0-10 libibverbs1 libiptcdata0 libiscsi7 libjbig-dev libjpeg-dev libjpeg-turbo8-dev libjpeg8-dev libjs-jquery
  libjs-sphinxdoc libjs-underscore libkate1 libkf5attica5 libkf5bookmarks-data libkf5bookmarks5 libkf5doctools5
  libkf5filemetadata-data libkf5filemetadata3 libkf5globalaccel-data libkf5globalaccel5 libkf5kiofilewidgets5
  libkf5kiontlm5 libkf5newstuff-data libkf5newstuff5 libkf5newstuffcore5 libkf5notifications-data libkf5notifications5
  libkf5notifyconfig-data libkf5notifyconfig5 libkf5solid5 libkf5solid5-data libkf5sonnet5-data libkf5sonnetcore5
  libkf5sonnetui5 libkf5textwidgets-data libkf5textwidgets5 libkf5wallet-bin libkf5wallet-data libkf5wallet5
  libkf5xmlgui-bin libkf5xmlgui-data libkf5xmlgui5 libkwalletbackend5-5 liblensfun-data-v1 liblilv-0-0 liblivemedia62
  liblua5.2-0 libluajit-5.1-2 libluajit-5.1-common libmad0 libmatroska6v5 libmbedcrypto1 libmbedtls10 libmbedx509-0
  libmediainfo0v5 libmicrodns0 libmjpegutils-2.1-0 libmlt-data libmms0 libmpcdec6 libmpeg2-4 libmpeg2encpp-2.1-0
  libmplex2-2.1-0 libmspack0 libnfs11 libnl-route-3-200 libofa0 libopenmpt-modplug1 libpcre16-3 libpcre2-32-0 libpcre32-3
  libphonon4qt5-4 libplacebo4 libpng-dev libprotobuf-lite10 libpython3.7-minimal libqt4-dbus libqt4-declarative
  libqt4-network libqt4-script libqt4-sql libqt4-xml libqt4-xmlpatterns libqt5opengl5 libqt5positioning5
  libqt5printsupport5 libqt5qml5 libqt5quick5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5texttospeech5 libqt5webchannel5 libqtcore4 libqtdbus4
  libqtgui4 librados2 librbd1 librdmacm1 libresid-builder0c2a librtaudio6 libsdl-image1.2 libserd-0-0 libsidplay1v5
  libsidplay2 libsord-0-0 libsoundtouch1 libsox-fmt-alsa libsox-fmt-base libsox3 libspandsp2 libsratom-0-0 libsrtp2-1
  libssh2-1 libssl-dev libtagc0 libtiffxx5 libtinyxml2-6 libunshield0 libupnp6 libusageenvironment3 libusbredirparser1
  libv4l2rds0 libva-wayland2 libvlc-bin libvlc-dev libvlc5 libvlccore9 libvo-aacenc0 libvorbisidec1 libvulkan1
  libwildmidi-config libwildmidi2 libxcb-xtest0 libxenstore3.0 libxfce4ui-1-0 libxfce4ui-common libxfce4util-common
  libxfce4util7 libxfconf-0-2 libxnvctrl0 libzbar0 libzen0v5 lxmenu-data mediainfo openrazer-driver-dkms oxygen-icon-theme
  phonon4qt5 phonon4qt5-backend-vlc php-cli-prompt php-composer-ca-bundle php-composer-semver php-composer-spdx-licenses
  php-phpseclib php-psr-log php-symfony-console php-symfony-debug php-symfony-filesystem php-symfony-finder
  php-symfony-polyfill-mbstring php-symfony-process php7.0-common php7.2-json php7.2-opcache php7.2-readline
  python-gobject python3-daemonize python3-distutils python3-lib2to3 python3-netifaces python3-notify2 python3-pyudev
  python3.7-minimal qdbus qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects qml-module-qtquick-controls qml-module-qtquick-dialogs
  qml-module-qtquick-layouts qml-module-qtquick-privatewidgets qml-module-qtquick-window2 qml-module-qtquick2 qtchooser
  qtcore4-l10n rawtherapee-data screen-resolution-extra seabios shtool smartmontools sox thunar-data unshield vlc-bin
  vlc-data vlc-l10n vlc-plugin-base vlc-plugin-qt vlc-plugin-video-output xautomation xfconf xfe-themes
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libutempter0 lynx lynx-common xterm
Suggested packages:
  xfonts-cyrillic
The following packages will be REMOVED
  adobe-flashplugin apache2 appstream aptitude apturl apturl-common audio-recorder avahi-utils baobab blueberry bluetooth
  bluez bluez-cups bluez-obexd bluez-tools bolt brltty caribou casper cheese cheese-common cifs-utils cinnamon
  cinnamon-common cinnamon-control-center cinnamon-control-center-dbg cinnamon-dbg cinnamon-desktop-data
  cinnamon-screensaver cinnamon-session cinnamon-settings-daemon cjs colord composer cups-browsed cups-pk-helper dconf-cli
  dnsmasq-base dnsutils dosfstools ecryptfs-utils evolution-data-server evolution-data-server-common file-roller firefox
  flatpak fwupd gcr gdb gdebi gedit gedit-common geoclue-2.0 gimp gir1.2-appindicator3-0.1 gir1.2-cinnamondesktop-3.0
  gir1.2-clutter-1.0 gir1.2-clutter-gst-3.0 gir1.2-flatpak-1.0 gir1.2-gkbd-3.0 gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-1.0
  gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0 gir1.2-gtkclutter-1.0 gir1.2-gtksource-3.0 gir1.2-ibus-1.0 gir1.2-keybinder-3.0
  gir1.2-mate-desktop gir1.2-mate-panel gir1.2-matedesktop-2.0 gir1.2-matepanelapplet-4.0 gir1.2-meta-muffin-0.0
  gir1.2-nemo-3.0 gir1.2-networkmanager-1.0 gir1.2-nma-1.0 gir1.2-peas-1.0 gir1.2-rb-3.0 gir1.2-soup-2.4
  gir1.2-timezonemap-1.0 gir1.2-webkit-3.0 gir1.2-webkit2-4.0 gir1.2-wnck-3.0 gir1.2-xplayer-1.0
  gir1.2-xplayer-plparser-1.0 git gkbd-capplet gksu gmusicbrowser gnome-bluetooth gnome-calculator gnome-calendar
  gnome-disk-utility gnome-font-viewer gnome-keyring gnome-logs gnome-online-accounts gnome-orca gnome-power-manager
  gnome-screenshot gnome-session-bin gnome-session-canberra gnome-settings-daemon gnome-settings-daemon-schemas
  gnome-system-monitor gnome-terminal gnome-themes-extra gnome-themes-standard gnome-video-effects google-chrome-stable
  gparted gsmartcontrol gstreamer1.0-clutter-3.0 gstreamer1.0-libav gstreamer1.0-packagekit gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
  gstreamer1.0-plugins-base-apps gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gstreamer1.0-tools gstreamer1.0-vaapi
  gtk2-engines gtk2-engines-murrine gtk2-engines-pixbuf gtkhash gtkhash-common gucharmap gufw gvfs-backends handbrake
  hardinfo hexchat hplip insync-nemo ippusbxd iputils-ping iputils-tracepath irqbalance jsonlint kdenlive kerneloops
  keyutils libapache2-mod-php7.2 libappstream-glib8 libass5 libbabeltrace1 libblockdev-crypto2 libcacard0
  libchamplain-0.12-0 libchamplain-gtk-0.12-0 libcheese-gtk25 libcheese8 libcinnamon-desktop-dbg libcinnamon-desktop4
  libcjs-dbg libcjs0f libcolorhug2 libcscreensaver0 libcups2-dev libcupsimage2-dev libdazzle-1.0-0 libdmapsharing-3.0-2
  libdw1 libebackend-1.2-10 libebook-1.2-19 libebook-contacts-1.2-2 libecal-1.2-19 libecryptfs1 libedata-book-1.2-25
  libedata-cal-1.2-28 libedataserver-1.2-23 libedataserverui-1.2-2 libflatpak0 libfluidsynth1 libfm-extra4 libfm-gtk4
  libfm4 libfox-1.6-0 libfwupd2 libgcab-1.0-0 libgdata22 libgegl-0.3-0 libgeoclue-2-0 libgeocode-glib0 libgimp2.0
  libglade2-0 libgnome-bluetooth13 libgnome-desktop-3-17 libgoa-1.0-0b libgoa-1.0-common libgoa-backend-1.0-1
  libgpod-common libgpod4 libgrilo-0.3-0 libgspell-1-1 libgssdp-1.0-3 libgstreamer-plugins-bad1.0-0 libgtk-3-bin
  libgtkmm-2.4-1v5 libgtkmm-3.0-1v5 libgtkspell0 libgucharmap-2-90-7 libgupnp-1.0-4 libgupnp-igd-1.0-4 libgweather-3-15
  libgweather-common libgxps2 libhal1-flash libibus-1.0-5 libimobiledevice-utils libjavascriptcoregtk-3.0-0
  libkeybinder-3.0-0 liblensfun1 liblightdm-gobject-1-0 liblvm2app2.2 liblzma-dev libmate-desktop-2-17
  libmate-panel-applet-4-1 libmateweather-common libmateweather1 libmenu-cache-bin libmenu-cache3 libmetacity1 libmlt++3
  libmlt6 libmovit8 libmuffin0 libmusicbrainz5-2 libmusicbrainz5cc2v5 libnautilus-extension1a libnet-libidn-perl libnice10
  libnm-glib4 libnm-util2 libnotify-bin libostree-1-1 libpcre3-dev libpcrecpp0v5 libpeas-1.0-python2loader
  libpoppler-glib8 libpq5 libproxy1-plugin-gsettings libpython3.7-stdlib libqt4-opengl libqt5webkit5
  libreoffice-avmedia-backend-gstreamer libreoffice-calc libreoffice-draw libreoffice-gnome libreoffice-gtk3
  libreoffice-impress libreoffice-ogltrans librhythmbox-core10 libsnapd-glib1 libspeechd2 libspice-server1 libthunarx-2-0
  libtiff-dev libtiff5-dev libtimezonemap1 libunity-protocol-private0 libunity9 libunwind8 libvisio-0.1-1 libvolume-key1
  libwayland-egl1-mesa libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37 libwebkitgtk-3.0-0 libwmf0.2-7 libwmf0.2-7-gtk libwnck-3-0 libxen-4.9
  libxplayer-plparser18 libxplayer0 libxreaderdocument3 libxreaderview3 libyelp0 libzeitgeist-2.0-0 lightdm ltrace
  lupin-casper lvm2 mate-desktop mate-desktop-common mate-panel mate-polkit melt metacity metacity-common
  mint-meta-cinnamon mint-meta-codecs mint-meta-core mintbackup mintdrivers mintinstall mintlocale mintmenu mintreport
  mintstick mintsystem mintupdate mintwelcome mousetweaks mozo mplayer muffin muffin-common muffin-dbg nautilus-data nemo
  nemo-data nemo-dbg nemo-emblems nemo-fileroller nemo-preview nemo-share net-tools netplan.io network-manager-gnome
  network-manager-openvpn network-manager-openvpn-gnome network-manager-pptp-gnome nplan nvidia-prime-applet
  nvidia-settings obex-data-server obs-studio onboard openrazer-daemon openrazer-meta openssh-client orca packagekit-tools
  pavucontrol pcmanfm php-cli php-gettext php-json-schema php-pear php-xml php7.0-gd php7.2-cli php7.2-dev php7.2-xml
  phpmyadmin pinentry-gnome3 pinta pix pix-data pix-dbg pkg-config plymouth-label polo-file-manager polychromatic
  postgresql postgresql-10 postgresql-client-10 postgresql-contrib printer-driver-postscript-hp pritunl-client-electron
  pulseaudio-module-bluetooth python-appindicator python-apsw python-cairo python-dbus python-glade2 python-gtk2
  python-nemo python3-numpy python3-openrazer python3.7 qemu-block-extra qemu-kvm qemu-system-common qemu-system-x86
  qemu-utils qt5-style-plugins qwinff rawtherapee redshift redshift-gtk rhythmbox rhythmbox-data
  rhythmbox-plugin-tray-icon rhythmbox-plugins seahorse session-migration sessioninstaller simple-scan slack-desktop
  slick-greeter snapd sopcast-player speech-dispatcher speech-dispatcher-audio-plugins speech-dispatcher-espeak-ng
  squashfs-tools ssh-askpass-gnome strace synaptic system-config-printer system-config-printer-common
  system-config-printer-gnome system-config-printer-udev system-tools-backends teamviewer thermald thunar
  thunar-archive-plugin thunar-gtkhash thunar-media-tags-plugin thunderbird-gnome-support timeshift tomboy
  transmission-gtk ubuntu-minimal ubuntu-system-adjustments v4l-utils v4l2loopback-utils vim-tiny virtualbox-6.0 vlc
  vlc-plugin-notify wget wmctrl xdg-desktop-portal xdg-desktop-portal-gtk xdg-user-dirs-gtk xed xed-common xed-dbg xfe
  xplayer xplayer-common xplayer-dbg xplayer-plugins xreader xreader-dbg xserver-xephyr xserver-xorg-input-wacom
  xserver-xorg-video-intel xserver-xorg-video-qxl xviewer xviewer-dbg xviewer-plugins xwayland yelp zenity zoom
The following NEW packages will be installed
  libutempter0 lynx lynx-common xterm
0 to upgrade, 4 to newly install, 447 to remove and 8 not to upgrade.
1 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 1,650 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2,355 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] 

Answer 1

On a real Ubuntu system, you can fix this kind of problem very easily.

WARNING: This answer WON'T work on Mint or other non-stock-Ubuntu systems.

Step 1: Install the ubuntu-desktop metapackage. This will prevent removal of the entire Ubuntu desktop stack. If you are using some other flavor like Kubuntu or Xubuntu or Lubuntu, etc, make the appropriate change to the metapackage name.

sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop     // Or kubuntu-desktop, lubuntu-desktop, etc.

Step 2: Review your (much smaller) list of orphaned packages. Explicitly install (or apt-mark) any that you wish to keep. If you are comfortable with the proposed removals, let apt remove them.

apt autoremove --simulate           // Review the list without any risk
sudo apt install package_name       // Mark a package as ineligble for autoremoval
sudo apt-mark manual package_name   // Another way to make a package ineligble for autoremoval
sudo apt autoremove                 // Actually uninstall orphaned packages