I see your point :-)

By the way, I also meant "apt-get install viff" and not "apt-cache
search viff".

Definitely! I'm using Debian myself and have indeed been thinking
about making such a package.

The reason why I haven't already made it is that it is so easy to
install VIFF in Debian: just "apt-get install" the few dependencies
and download/clone you favorite version of VIFF.

Would it be an idea to investigate how to include viff in the
"universe" package repository for Debian/Ubuntu?

Ideally, doing a

   apt-cache search viff

would then install viff and all dependencies. This is how most
Deb/Ubuntu users prefer to install things (at least, I think).