In a proprietary operating system, you just wouldn't have been allowed to uninstall the desktop environment at all. Unfortunately, you are also forbidden from uninstalling Facebook if they have a deal with your device's manufacturer.

There is a huge space between cli everything and pre-infested walled garden. I have always felt that there should be more visual differences in the standard newby frendly tools for linix. Many problems would be avoided with a basic graphic interface.