Well, score one in the user-friendly column for Linux Mint.
I uninstalled python3 in Debian 12, it said “sure, no problem”, and instantly broke the desktop and on reboot could not log in.
Tried the same thing on Linux Mint Debian Edition, and first it refused because one of Cinnamon’s libraries depended on it, but when I included that library in the remove and added purge, it said:
“E: Removing essential system-critical packages is not permitted. This might break the system.”