> - .deb and .rpm packages
Were the debs created by the Debian maintainer of the abiword debs? Having
debs in an area that doesn't have a Packages.gz file is a pain, and is not
the Debian Way(tm). Also, if the packages are maintained by you, there
might be conflicts with whoever's the Debian maintainer.
If you're going to maintain your own packages, you might want to make it
apt-capable and publish a magic apt source line (and use an NMU Debian
revision number, if you're not already).