[maemo-users] Newbie asks what is the key to repository access?

[From: D. L. Fuller]

I'm a newbie with a 770 running OS 2006 3.2006.49-2.

For example, I'm following a HowTo(maemo.org/community/wiki/) and am  
instructed to install a package.

In the Application Manager I add a New Catalog with these entries and  
then refresh the list:
      Web Address:  http://repository.maemo.org/
      Distribution: mistral
      Components:   free non-free

The package referenced in the HowTo is not listed, but a Google  
search in repository.maemo.org does show the package listed several  
times with locations such as these:
      /pool/scirocco/free/source/o/
      /pool/maemo2.1/free/o/
      /pool/gregale/free/source/o/

What do the "Distribution:" and "Components:" entries in the  
Application Manager do?  And, how is the "Web Address:" converted to  
an actual file location?

A second example, again following a HowTo(maemo.org/community/wiki/)  
and instructed to install package e2fsprogs as root.

In X Terminal (as root) I enter:
      apt-get install e2fsprogs

Dependencies are then determined and after several responses, the  
result displayed is that 6 new packages will be installed.

The package installation attempts fail with entries like these for  
all 6 new packages:
      Err http://repository.maemo.org mistral/free (package name)  
1.37-2sarge1
      404 Not Found [IP: 168.143.241.80 80]
      Failed to fetch http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo2.0/free/ 
e/ (package name)
      /(dependency name)_1.37-2sarge1_armel.deb
      404 Not Found [IP: 168.143.241.80 80]

What is happening that causes these packages not to be found?  They  
are there in repository.maemo.org but with differing paths to their  
locations.