IMHO, it doesn't make since to package a program for deployment until it gets closer to time to make the code public. It gets to be tedious having to issue all the commands to create a *.deb package after every code change.

My work flow has always been:

1. write the code
2. run locally (compiling if necessary)
3. make corrections if there are any errors
4. repeat steps 3 and 4 until desired results are reached
5. copy the code to the remote platform and run there
6. package for release
7. test the package to make sure it installs/uninstalls correctly
8. release the package