deskmenu under oroborus -- not fit for purpose?

I am trying to use deskmenu with oroborus, both from the Debian packages.

Mouse button clicking on the root window fails to bring up the menu
even when explicitly stated with the -b <button_number> flag.

Commands in sub menu items are not executed. Strace indicates that
the click is seen but there is no attempt to execute the configured
entry. Items on the main menu are successfully executed.

Has anybody else had these problems?

This package along with oroborus appears to have been abandoned
by the Debian package maintainer, with the last response to a bug
having been made in November 2007.

Is this an indicator of slipping standards in Debian management
and quality?