Snap is a cross-distribution packaging format for Linux. See https://snapcraft.io for more information.
How to build
Just type
snapcraft
from the parent directory: that is, not from the directory containing this README file, but from its parent directory. This snap has been successfully built in Ubuntu 17.04; Ubuntu 16.10 will not work because MeshLab needs Qt 5.7, which is not available there. It should be possible to build MeshLab as a snap in older Ubuntu distributions by using the qt57 part, but no efforts have been taken in this direction since anyway the generated snap package will work on older distributions too.
How to test the snap
The generated snap can be installed by typing
snap install --dangerous ./meshlab*.snap
The --dangerous flag is needed because the snap has not been verified by the
store.
How to upload the snap to the store
A thorough guide can be found at the snapcraft.io site.