I wonder whether the POV in this discussion is right. I have the impression that the discussion is about the removal of "old" packages. Squeeze had 91 standard packages, now there are 108. The latest one: doc-debian. When libsqlcipher0 (1) hit standard I also had doubts that its functionality justifies the standard criteria (2). 1: https://packages.debian.org/sid/libsqlcipher0 2: https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-archive.html#s-priorities