Weird indeed ! Maybe you should use the '-s' flag (simulate) first so you see what apt would do. Try 'apt-get -s remove xemacs21' Deborphan is also useful to spot unneeded libraries which are safe to remove.

Quote Originally Posted by drews
and another question is: when I'm thru with apt-get can I remove all the files under /var/cache/apt?
Yes, you can purge the local package cache. just type 'apt-get clean'