Remove hard dependencies between Gnome Desktop and OOo, Evolution etc

If one wishes to have a lightweight install (say for a VMWare image) that only contains the essential applications required for that install (say Eclipse), then it's useful to remove all the standard Ubuntu apps such as OO.o, Evolution etc. However, when trying to remove the packages, synaptic/apt-get reports that this will also remove Gnome Desktop.

Ideally, this dependency shouldn't exist - while there's merit in saying "These apps are an essential part of the Ubuntu experience," I don't believe that they should be forced on a user.

Note that the apps->desktop dependency doesn't happen in Xubuntu, and while using Xubuntu is a pretty good workaround (Xubuntu is very well suited to Virtual Machine usage), it shouldn't be necessary for a user to hit the blockage and come up with the workaround.