It takes extra work to derive the SVN version number, but there are
multiple ways to check the release version number, e.g.:

apt-get dist-upgrade -s

Reading the Packages file:
http://code.ros.org/packages/ros/ubuntu/dists/lucid/main/binary-i386/Packages

Reading the rosdistro file (less reliable as there are no guarantees
that the .deb was built yet):]
http://www.ros.org/distros/cturtle.rosdistro

Hope this helps,
Ken

On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 12:54 PM, Patrick Beeson <beeson.p@gmail.com> wrote:
> What's the easiest way to see the current changelog and/or svn source
> version for pre-compiled .deb packages (before installation)?  I often
> run trunk versions of code that have patches from myself or other
> maintainers applied, and I would like to know when new debian packages
> are ready to install, whether or not it's worth my time to download and
> install them, and if I do, if I can remove my patched version built from
> source.
>
> I looked around and couldn't find any changleogs or .deb version info on
> the wiki or repository pool site.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Patrick
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