[Trisquel-devel] Documenting reasons for removal of packages

[Felipe Sanches]

example scenario:

I want to use MeshLab.

felipe at simon:~$ sudo apt-get install meshlab
[...]
Package meshlab is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package meshlab has no installation candidate


googling "meshlab debian" I easily fin this page:
http://packages.debian.org/sid/graphics/meshlab

So, what is the reasoning? Why isn't meshlab available in Trisquel?
Was it explicitely removed from Trisquel? If so, for what reason? Was
it due to some specific distro policy? How can the user deal with it
and autonomously decide what to do next once he/she faces the "not
available" message?

I keep hitting this kind of issue several times since I started using
Trisquel (I think I had this problem with gNewSense too). Can't we
figure out a way of better informing our users about the reasons of
package removals (and perhaps also about unavailability in general)?
For instance, we could have "packages pages" similar to the Debian
ones listing that kind of info about Trisquel. What do you think?

Felipe Sanches