Removing unneeded package dependencies on Unity

[Pander]

Hi all,

As a long time user of Ubuntu with GNOME, I do not like it when
installation of non-Unity packages pull in Unity packages. I am not fond
of Unity, but respect the freedom of choice with also KDE, GNOME and
what not.

I noticed that after a lot of voice from the Ubuntu GNOME user
community, Ubuntu has removed a lot of the package dependencies on Unity
and I am very glad with that.

Still, probably because of the packager is a user of Unity or that there
is indeed a dynamic/optional link with Unity, certain non-Unity packages
pull in Unity packages.

If these dependencies are hard, then it might be a good idea to create
an extra separate package with the Unity related files. In most cases
these dependencies can be removed or downgraded to a recommended or
suggested package dependency.

In order to get an overview of which packages currently probably need to
loosen their dependency on Unity. This concerns 35 packages, see
http://pastebin.com/9LTd1uWx With dependencies listed in
http://pastebin.com/0MVkQhw0

What surprises me is that there are a reasonable amount of dependencies
on unity...-dev packages. Does anyone know what is the cause of that?

For all packages listed in this tab-separated file, can these be
inspected and requested to drop or lessen the Unity dependency?

Last question, could this review be a part of every upcoming Ubuntu
GNOME release? I can supply the script if anyone is interested.

Best,

Pander

PS  See also similar current bug reports:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pidgin/+bug/1635951
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/thunderbird/+bug/1669997
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1670009