What does the "Basic Ubuntu Server" package contain in software selection during installation?

In the spirit of teaching a man to fish...

You can find a list of tasks and their proper names with the command:

tasksel --list-tasks

This will tell you that the "Basic Ubuntu Server" task is named "server". With this name, you can generate a list of the related packages:

tasksel --task-packages server

For example, on Ubuntu "Quantal" 12.10:

steven@lat:~$ tasksel --task-packages server | sort
acpid
apport
apport-symptoms
bc
byobu
consolekit
curl
ethtool
fonts-ubuntu-font-family-console
landscape-common
libck-connector0
libcurl3
libevent-2.0-5
libgc1c2
libgpm2
libiw30
libnl-3-200
libnl-genl-3-200
libpam-ck-connector
libpcsclite1
libpolkit-agent-1-0
libpolkit-backend-1-0
libpython2.7
libwhoopsie0
patch
policykit-1
python
python2.7
python2.7-minimal
python3-apport
python3-problem-report
python-apt
python-chardet
python-debian
python-gdbm
python-gnupginterface
python-minimal
python-newt
python-openssl
python-pam
python-pkg-resources
python-serial
python-six
python-twisted-bin
python-twisted-core
python-zope.interface
screen
tmux
update-notifier-common
vim
vim-runtime
w3m
whoopsie
wireless-tools
wpasupplicant
xz-utils
steven@lat:~$ 

Tha Basic Ubuntu Server package bundle includes:

python-zope.interface
python-lazr.restfulclient
python-serial
ubuntu-serverguide
python-pam
vim-runtime
python-wadllib
python-pycurl
libpcsclite1
python-simplejson
vim
libnl1
python-pkg-resources
python-pexpect
wpasupplicant
python-twisted-bin
python-launchpadlib
libpython2.6
python-twisted-core
python-problem-report
patch
python-oauth
python-lazr.uri
python-apport
libjs-jquery
python-openssl
apport
bc
python-httplib2
wireless-tools
apport-symptoms
libiw30
screen
python-newt
landscape-common
byobu
python-smartpm

Source


On Ubuntu 18.04, this command:

apt-cache show server^ | grep '^Package:' | sed 's/Package: //' | sort -u

outputs the packages, sorted alphabetically and without any duplicates:

acl
acpid
apport
apport-symptoms
at
bc
bcache-tools
btrfs-progs
btrfs-tools
byobu
cloud-guest-utils
cloud-initramfs-copymods
cloud-initramfs-dyn-netconf
cryptsetup
cryptsetup-bin
curl
dirmngr
dmeventd
dnsmasq-base
dns-root-data
ebtables
ethtool
fonts-ubuntu-console
gawk
git
git-man
gnupg
gnupg-l10n
gnupg-utils
gpg
gpg-agent
gpgconf
gpgsm
gpg-wks-client
gpg-wks-server
grub-legacy-ec2
htop
landscape-common
libasn1-8-heimdal
libassuan0
libcurl3-gnutls
libcurl4
libdevmapper-event1.02.1
libdumbnet1
liberror-perl
libevent-2.1-6
libgdbm-compat4
libgpm2
libgssapi3-heimdal
libhcrypto4-heimdal
libheimbase1-heimdal
libheimntlm0-heimdal
libhx509-5-heimdal
libisns0
libkrb5-26-heimdal
libksba8
libldap-2.4-2
libldap-common
liblvm2app2.2
liblvm2cmd2.02
liblxc1
liblxc-common
liblzo2-2
libmpfr6
libmspack0
libnghttp2-14
libnpth0
libperl5.26
libpolkit-agent-1-0
libpolkit-backend-1-0
libpython3.6
libreadline5
libroken18-heimdal
librtmp1
libsasl2-2
libsasl2-modules
libsasl2-modules-db
libsigsegv2
libutempter0
libwind0-heimdal
libxmlsec1
libxmlsec1-openssl
libxslt1.1
lvm2
lxcfs
lxd
lxd-client
mdadm
net-tools
open-iscsi
open-vm-tools
overlayroot
pastebinit
patch
perl
perl-modules-5.26
pinentry-curses
policykit-1
pollinate
python3-apport
python3-asn1crypto
python3-attr
python3-automat
python3-certifi
python3-cffi-backend
python3-chardet
python3-click
python3-colorama
python3-configobj
python3-constantly
python3-cryptography
python3-debconf
python3-debian
python3-httplib2
python3-hyperlink
python3-idna
python3-incremental
python3-newt
python3-openssl
python3-pam
python3-pkg-resources
python3-problem-report
python3-pyasn1
python3-pyasn1-modules
python3-requests
python3-requests-unixsocket
python3-serial
python3-service-identity
python3-six
python3-software-properties
python3-systemd
python3-twisted
python3-twisted-bin
python3-urllib3
python3-zope.interface
run-one
screen
snapd
software-properties-common
sosreport
squashfs-tools
tmux
ubuntu-server
uidmap
unattended-upgrades
update-notifier-common
vim
vim-runtime
xdelta3
xfsprogs
zerofree

EDIT: And on 20.04:

alsa-topology-conf
alsa-ucm-conf
apport
apport-symptoms
at
bc
bcache-tools
bolt
btrfs-progs
busybox-initramfs
byobu
cloud-guest-utils
cloud-initramfs-copymods
cloud-initramfs-dyn-netconf
cryptsetup
cryptsetup-bin
cryptsetup-initramfs
cryptsetup-run
curl
dbus-user-session
dconf-gsettings-backend
dconf-service
dirmngr
dmeventd
ethtool
finalrd
fonts-ubuntu-console
fwupd
fwupd-signed
gawk
gir1.2-packagekitglib-1.0
git
git-man
glib-networking
glib-networking-common
glib-networking-services
gnupg
gnupg-l10n
gnupg-utils
gpg
gpg-agent
gpgconf
gpgsm
gpg-wks-client
gpg-wks-server
gsettings-desktop-schemas
htop
initramfs-tools
initramfs-tools-bin
initramfs-tools-core
klibc-utils
kpartx
landscape-common
libaio1
libappstream4
libarchive13
libasn1-8-heimdal
libasound2
libasound2-data
libassuan0
libbrotli1
libcanberra0
libcurl3-gnutls
libcurl4
libdconf1
libdevmapper-event1.02.1
libefiboot1
libefivar1
liberror-perl
libevent-2.1-7
libfl2
libfwupd2
libfwupdplugin1
libgcab-1.0-0
libgdbm-compat4
libglib2.0-bin
libgpgme11
libgpm2
libgssapi3-heimdal
libgstreamer1.0-0
libgudev-1.0-0
libgusb2
libhcrypto4-heimdal
libheimbase1-heimdal
libheimntlm0-heimdal
libhx509-5-heimdal
libisns0
libjson-glib-1.0-0
libjson-glib-1.0-common
libklibc
libkrb5-26-heimdal
libksba8
libldap-2.4-2
libldap-common
libltdl7
liblvm2cmd2.03
liblzo2-2
libmpfr6
libmspack0
libnghttp2-14
libnpth0
libogg0
libpackagekit-glib2-18
libperl5.30
libpolkit-agent-1-0
libproxy1v5
libpython3.8
libreadline5
libroken18-heimdal
librtmp1
libsasl2-2
libsasl2-modules
libsasl2-modules-db
libsgutils2-2
libsigsegv2
libsmbios-c2
libsoup2.4-1
libssh-4
libstemmer0d
libtdb1
libtss2-esys0
liburcu6
libutempter0
libvorbis0a
libvorbisfile3
libwind0-heimdal
libxmlb1
libxmlsec1
libxmlsec1-openssl
libxslt1.1
linux-base
lvm2
lxd-agent-loader
lz4
mdadm
multipath-tools
open-iscsi
open-vm-tools
overlayroot
packagekit
packagekit-tools
pastebinit
patch
perl
perl-modules-5.30
pinentry-curses
policykit-1
pollinate
python3-apport
python3-attr
python3-automat
python3-blinker
python3-certifi
python3-cffi-backend
python3-chardet
python3-click
python3-colorama
python3-configobj
python3-constantly
python3-cryptography
python3-debconf
python3-debian
python3-distro
python3-entrypoints
python3-hamcrest
python3-httplib2
python3-hyperlink
python3-idna
python3-incremental
python3-jwt
python3-keyring
python3-launchpadlib
python3-lazr.restfulclient
python3-lazr.uri
python3-newt
python3-oauthlib
python3-openssl
python3-problem-report
python3-pyasn1
python3-pyasn1-modules
python3-requests
python3-requests-unixsocket
python3-secretstorage
python3-service-identity
python3-simplejson
python3-six
python3-software-properties
python3-systemd
python3-twisted
python3-twisted-bin
python3-urllib3
python3-wadllib
python3-zope.interface
run-one
sbsigntool
screen
secureboot-db
sg3-utils
sg3-utils-udev
snapd
software-properties-common
sosreport
sound-theme-freedesktop
squashfs-tools
thin-provisioning-tools
tmux
tpm-udev
ubuntu-server
unattended-upgrades
update-notifier-common
vim
vim-runtime
xfsprogs
zerofree