Ubuntu Wiki

Removals

While it is always preferable to fix a package, rather than drop it, there are rare cases when a universe package becomes actively detrimental in stable releases: If it is unmaintained in Ubuntu and has unfixed security issues or has been broken because of changing network protocols/APIs, it is better to stop offering it in Ubuntu altogether rather than continuing to encourage users to install it.

It is not technically possible to remove a package from a stable release, but this can be approximated by SRUing an essentially empty package with an appropriate explanation in NEWS and a corresponding critical debconf note.

When a package is removed in this way from a stable release, it may need similar removal from the devel release as well, depending on the justification for removal.

Such a package removal should have an SRU tracking bug with an appropriate explanation, and needs to get confirmed by the Technical Board. Once removed, the SRU bug should be added to the "Previous Removals" list below.

Previous Removals:

• tor (was reintroduced later on in #413657)

• bitcoin

• owncloud