Tested.  ubuntu0.6 fixed the error on dpkg --remove, problem (b) above.
But problem (a) persists, netrekd is not running after install.

-- 
server runs as root unecessarily
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/272338
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Status in Netrek Server: Fix Committed

Bug description:
The server runs as root, but it does not need to.

To run as non-root, the packaging should create a username to operate within, and chmod /var/lib/netrek-server-vanilla, and the init.d script should use the created username.  A username of netrek is suggested.