Installing youtube-dl on ubuntu minimal brings in far too many extraneous dependencies

[Hayden]

Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic
Ubuntu 18.10 Cosmic

Expected results:

sudo apt-get install youtube-dl will install a reasonable number of dependencies for a terminal-based application on a minimal ubuntu installation.

Actual results:

sudo apt-get install youtube-dl suggests a number of extraneous dependencies.

There should be no need for adwaita-icon-theme, qt5-gtk-platformtheme, and libxrandr2 on a machine with no X.

See:

hayden@t470s:~$ sudo apt-get install youtube-dl
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  adwaita-icon-theme at-spi2-core avahi-daemon cpp cpp-7 dconf-gsettings-backend dconf-service ffmpeg fontconfig
  fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core gcc-7-base geoclue-2.0 glib-networking glib-networking-common
  glib-networking-services gsettings-desktop-schemas gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gtk-update-icon-cache
  hicolor-icon-theme humanity-icon-theme i965-va-driver iio-sensor-proxy libaacs0 libasound2 libasound2-data libass9
  libasyncns0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libatk1.0-0 libatk1.0-data libatspi2.0-0 libauthen-sasl-perl libavahi-client3
  libavahi-common-data libavahi-common3 libavahi-core7 libavahi-glib1 libavc1394-0 libavcodec57 libavdevice57
  libavfilter6 libavformat57 libavresample3 libavutil55 libbdplus0 libbluray2 libbrotli1 libbs2b0 libcaca0
  libcairo-gobject2 libcairo2 libcdio-cdda2 libcdio-paranoia2 libcdio17 libcdparanoia0 libchromaprint1 libcolord2
  libcroco3 libcrystalhd3 libcups2 libdaemon0 libdata-dump-perl libdatrie1 libdc1394-22 libdconf1
  libdouble-conversion1 libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1 libdvdnav4 libdvdread4
  libegl-mesa0 libegl1 libencode-locale-perl libepoxy0 libevdev2 libfftw3-double3 libfile-basedir-perl
  libfile-desktopentry-perl libfile-listing-perl libfile-mimeinfo-perl libflac8 libflite1 libfont-afm-perl
  libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libgbm1 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-bin libgdk-pixbuf2.0-common libgeoclue-2-0
  libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libgme0 libgomp1 libgraphite2-3
  libgsm1 libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-0 libgstreamer1.0-0 libgtk-3-0 libgtk-3-bin libgtk-3-common libgudev-1.0-0
  libharfbuzz0b libhtml-form-perl libhtml-format-perl libhtml-parser-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl
  libhttp-cookies-perl libhttp-daemon-perl libhttp-date-perl libhttp-message-perl libhttp-negotiate-perl libhyphen0
  libice6 libiec61883-0 libinput-bin libinput10 libio-html-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl libipc-system-simple-perl
  libisl19 libjack-jackd2-0 libjansson4 libjbig0 libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjson-glib-1.0-0 libjson-glib-1.0-common
  liblcms2-2 libldb1 libllvm6.0 liblua5.2-0 liblwp-mediatypes-perl liblwp-protocol-https-perl libmailtools-perl
  libmbim-glib4 libmbim-proxy libmm-glib0 libmp3lame0 libmpc3 libmpg123-0 libmtdev1 libmysofa0 libnet-dbus-perl
  libnet-http-perl libnet-smtp-ssl-perl libnet-ssleay-perl libnl-3-200 libnl-genl-3-200 libnorm1 libnss-mdns libogg0
  libopenal-data libopenal1 libopenjp2-7 libopenmpt0 libopus0 liborc-0.4-0 libpango-1.0-0 libpangocairo-1.0-0
  libpangoft2-1.0-0 libpciaccess0 libpcsclite1 libpgm-5.2-0 libpixman-1-0 libpostproc54 libproxy1v5 libpulse0
  libpython2.7 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib libqmi-glib5 libqmi-proxy libqt5core5a libqt5dbus5 libqt5gui5
  libqt5network5 libqt5positioning5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5qml5 libqt5quick5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5svg5
  libqt5webchannel5 libqt5webkit5 libqt5widgets5 libraw1394-11 librest-0.7-0 librsvg2-2 librsvg2-common librubberband2
  libsamplerate0 libsdl2-2.0-0 libsensors4 libshine3 libsm6 libsmbclient libsnappy1v5 libsndfile1 libsndio6.1
  libsodium23 libsoup-gnome2.4-1 libsoup2.4-1 libsoxr0 libspeex1 libssh-gcrypt-4 libswresample2 libswscale4 libtalloc2
  libtdb1 libtevent0 libthai-data libthai0 libtheora0 libtie-ixhash-perl libtiff5 libtimedate-perl libtry-tiny-perl
  libtwolame0 libuchardet0 liburi-perl libva-drm2 libva-wayland2 libva-x11-2 libva2 libvdpau1 libvisual-0.4-0
  libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libvorbisfile3 libvpx5 libwacom-bin libwacom-common libwacom2 libwavpack1
  libwayland-client0 libwayland-cursor0 libwayland-egl1 libwayland-server0 libwbclient0 libwebp6 libwebpmux3 libwoff1
  libwww-perl libwww-robotrules-perl libx11-protocol-perl libx11-xcb1 libx264-152 libx265-151 libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0
  libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-image0 libxcb-keysyms1 libxcb-present0 libxcb-randr0
  libxcb-render-util0 libxcb-render0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-sync1 libxcb-util1 libxcb-xfixes0
  libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-xkb1 libxcomposite1 libxcursor1 libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1
  libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxkbcommon0 libxml-parser-perl libxml-twig-perl libxml-xpathengine-perl libxmu6 libxpm4
  libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxshmfence1 libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxvidcore4 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 libzmq5
  libzvbi-common libzvbi0 mesa-va-drivers mesa-vdpau-drivers modemmanager mpv perl-openssl-defaults phantomjs
  python-talloc python3-pyxattr qt5-gtk-platformtheme qttranslations5-l10n rtmpdump samba-libs ubuntu-mono
  usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data va-driver-all vdpau-driver-all wpasupplicant x11-common x11-utils
  x11-xserver-utils xdg-utils
Suggested packages:
  avahi-autoipd cpp-doc gcc-7-locales ffmpeg-doc gvfs i965-va-driver-shaders libasound2-plugins alsa-utils
  libdigest-hmac-perl libgssapi-perl libbluray-bdj colord firmware-crystalhd cups-common libdvdcss2 libfftw3-bin
  libfftw3-dev libvisual-0.4-plugins gstreamer1.0-tools jackd2 liblcms2-utils libcrypt-ssleay-perl avahi-autoipd
  | zeroconf libportaudio2 opus-tools pcscd pulseaudio qt5-image-formats-plugins qtwayland5 qt5-qmltooling-plugins
  libraw1394-doc librsvg2-bin lm-sensors sndiod speex libauthen-ntlm-perl libunicode-map8-perl libunicode-string-perl
  xml-twig-tools python3-pyxattr-dbg python-pyxattr-doc comgt wvdial libvdpau-va-gl1 nvidia-vdpau-driver
  nvidia-legacy-340xx-vdpau-driver wpagui libengine-pkcs11-openssl mesa-utils nickle cairo-5c xorg-docs-core
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  adwaita-icon-theme at-spi2-core avahi-daemon cpp cpp-7 dconf-gsettings-backend dconf-service ffmpeg fontconfig
  fontconfig-config fonts-dejavu-core gcc-7-base geoclue-2.0 glib-networking glib-networking-common
  glib-networking-services gsettings-desktop-schemas gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gtk-update-icon-cache
  hicolor-icon-theme humanity-icon-theme i965-va-driver iio-sensor-proxy libaacs0 libasound2 libasound2-data libass9
  libasyncns0 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libatk1.0-0 libatk1.0-data libatspi2.0-0 libauthen-sasl-perl libavahi-client3
  libavahi-common-data libavahi-common3 libavahi-core7 libavahi-glib1 libavc1394-0 libavcodec57 libavdevice57
  libavfilter6 libavformat57 libavresample3 libavutil55 libbdplus0 libbluray2 libbrotli1 libbs2b0 libcaca0
  libcairo-gobject2 libcairo2 libcdio-cdda2 libcdio-paranoia2 libcdio17 libcdparanoia0 libchromaprint1 libcolord2
  libcroco3 libcrystalhd3 libcups2 libdaemon0 libdata-dump-perl libdatrie1 libdc1394-22 libdconf1
  libdouble-conversion1 libdrm-amdgpu1 libdrm-intel1 libdrm-nouveau2 libdrm-radeon1 libdvdnav4 libdvdread4
  libegl-mesa0 libegl1 libencode-locale-perl libepoxy0 libevdev2 libfftw3-double3 libfile-basedir-perl
  libfile-desktopentry-perl libfile-listing-perl libfile-mimeinfo-perl libflac8 libflite1 libfont-afm-perl
  libfontconfig1 libfontenc1 libgbm1 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-bin libgdk-pixbuf2.0-common libgeoclue-2-0
  libgl1 libgl1-mesa-dri libgl1-mesa-glx libglapi-mesa libglvnd0 libglx-mesa0 libglx0 libgme0 libgomp1 libgraphite2-3
  libgsm1 libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-0 libgstreamer1.0-0 libgtk-3-0 libgtk-3-bin libgtk-3-common libgudev-1.0-0
  libharfbuzz0b libhtml-form-perl libhtml-format-perl libhtml-parser-perl libhtml-tagset-perl libhtml-tree-perl
  libhttp-cookies-perl libhttp-daemon-perl libhttp-date-perl libhttp-message-perl libhttp-negotiate-perl libhyphen0
  libice6 libiec61883-0 libinput-bin libinput10 libio-html-perl libio-socket-ssl-perl libipc-system-simple-perl
  libisl19 libjack-jackd2-0 libjansson4 libjbig0 libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg8 libjson-glib-1.0-0 libjson-glib-1.0-common
  liblcms2-2 libldb1 libllvm6.0 liblua5.2-0 liblwp-mediatypes-perl liblwp-protocol-https-perl libmailtools-perl
  libmbim-glib4 libmbim-proxy libmm-glib0 libmp3lame0 libmpc3 libmpg123-0 libmtdev1 libmysofa0 libnet-dbus-perl
  libnet-http-perl libnet-smtp-ssl-perl libnet-ssleay-perl libnl-3-200 libnl-genl-3-200 libnorm1 libnss-mdns libogg0
  libopenal-data libopenal1 libopenjp2-7 libopenmpt0 libopus0 liborc-0.4-0 libpango-1.0-0 libpangocairo-1.0-0
  libpangoft2-1.0-0 libpciaccess0 libpcsclite1 libpgm-5.2-0 libpixman-1-0 libpostproc54 libproxy1v5 libpulse0
  libpython2.7 libpython2.7-minimal libpython2.7-stdlib libqmi-glib5 libqmi-proxy libqt5core5a libqt5dbus5 libqt5gui5
  libqt5network5 libqt5positioning5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5qml5 libqt5quick5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5svg5
  libqt5webchannel5 libqt5webkit5 libqt5widgets5 libraw1394-11 librest-0.7-0 librsvg2-2 librsvg2-common librubberband2
  libsamplerate0 libsdl2-2.0-0 libsensors4 libshine3 libsm6 libsmbclient libsnappy1v5 libsndfile1 libsndio6.1
  libsodium23 libsoup-gnome2.4-1 libsoup2.4-1 libsoxr0 libspeex1 libssh-gcrypt-4 libswresample2 libswscale4 libtalloc2
  libtdb1 libtevent0 libthai-data libthai0 libtheora0 libtie-ixhash-perl libtiff5 libtimedate-perl libtry-tiny-perl
  libtwolame0 libuchardet0 liburi-perl libva-drm2 libva-wayland2 libva-x11-2 libva2 libvdpau1 libvisual-0.4-0
  libvorbis0a libvorbisenc2 libvorbisfile3 libvpx5 libwacom-bin libwacom-common libwacom2 libwavpack1
  libwayland-client0 libwayland-cursor0 libwayland-egl1 libwayland-server0 libwbclient0 libwebp6 libwebpmux3 libwoff1
  libwww-perl libwww-robotrules-perl libx11-protocol-perl libx11-xcb1 libx264-152 libx265-151 libxaw7 libxcb-dri2-0
  libxcb-dri3-0 libxcb-glx0 libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-image0 libxcb-keysyms1 libxcb-present0 libxcb-randr0
  libxcb-render-util0 libxcb-render0 libxcb-shape0 libxcb-shm0 libxcb-sync1 libxcb-util1 libxcb-xfixes0
  libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-xkb1 libxcomposite1 libxcursor1 libxdamage1 libxfixes3 libxft2 libxi6 libxinerama1
  libxkbcommon-x11-0 libxkbcommon0 libxml-parser-perl libxml-twig-perl libxml-xpathengine-perl libxmu6 libxpm4
  libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxshmfence1 libxss1 libxt6 libxtst6 libxv1 libxvidcore4 libxxf86dga1 libxxf86vm1 libzmq5
  libzvbi-common libzvbi0 mesa-va-drivers mesa-vdpau-drivers modemmanager mpv perl-openssl-defaults phantomjs
  python-talloc python3-pyxattr qt5-gtk-platformtheme qttranslations5-l10n rtmpdump samba-libs ubuntu-mono
  usb-modeswitch usb-modeswitch-data va-driver-all vdpau-driver-all wpasupplicant x11-common x11-utils
  x11-xserver-utils xdg-utils youtube-dl
0 upgraded, 326 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 123 MB of archives.
After this operation, 623 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

[Marcin Gałązka (hipnoizz)]

I can confirm this behaviour on Ubuntu 18.04.1, minimal installation. When I tried to install Lollypop music player from PPA (https://launchpad.net/~gnumdk/+archive/ubuntu/lollypop) I got this

The following additional packages will be installed:
  ffmpeg gir1.2-totemplparser-1.0 i965-va-driver libaacs0 libass9 libavcodec57
  libavdevice57 libavfilter6 libavformat57 libavresample3 libavutil55
  libbdplus0 libbluray2 libbrotli1 libbs2b0 libchromaprint1 libcrystalhd3
  libdc1394-22 libdouble-conversion1 libdvdnav4 libdvdread4 libflite1 libgme0
  libgsm1 liblua5.2-0 libmysofa0 libnorm1 libopenal-data libopenal1
  libopenjp2-7 libopenmpt0 libpgm-5.2-0 libpostproc54 libqt5core5a libqt5dbus5
  libqt5gui5 libqt5network5 libqt5positioning5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5qml5
  libqt5quick5 libqt5sensors5 libqt5svg5 libqt5webchannel5 libqt5webkit5
  libqt5widgets5 librubberband2 libsdl2-2.0-0 libshine3 libsnappy1v5
  libsndio6.1 libsoxr0 libssh-gcrypt-4 libswresample2 libswscale4 libuchardet0
  libva-drm2 libva-wayland2 libva-x11-2 libva2 libvdpau1 libwoff1 libx264-152
  libx265-146 libxcb-xinerama0 libxvidcore4 libzmq5 libzvbi-common libzvbi0
  lollypop-portal mesa-va-drivers mesa-vdpau-drivers mpv phantomjs python3-bs4
  python3-html5lib python3-lxml python3-pylast python3-pyxattr
  python3-webencodings qt5-gtk-platformtheme qttranslations5-l10n rtmpdump
  va-driver-all vdpau-driver-all youtube-dl

Almost all (or maybe even all) dependencies here are because of the youtube-dl package. Ultimately I did a workaround by installing Lollypop without recommended dependencies (youtube-dl being of them). I'm not sure how I can I display a dependency tree, I suspect that pulling the ffmpeg package is one of the reason. Though why all these QT5 deps are here I have not idea.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Unit 193 (unit193)]

Howdy,

You can try to use `apt install --no-install-recommends youtube-dl` to solve the issue of too many packages being pulled in. As noted in a bug in Debian[0], mpv/mplayer are recommended as one of them is needed in order to obtain rtsp streams.

[0]: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=881326