When I tried the search for “lua” there was a remark saying there were too many results, and that some had been omitted.
The manual cannot tell you everything
- versions change
- different distributions can use slightly different names for the same package.
- the “lib” part of the naming you refer to doesn’t always hold.
One thing you can of course always try in such cases: install a package that needs lua, your package manager should then alo load the required packages (or at least propose to do so, at worst tell you which packages are needed).
As for “novice/neophyte”: you’ve been here now for 5 years or so… and Linux has never been suited for those who want everything to be polished. So you can either stick with whatever version your distribution provides, or (if you want the latest versions) learn everything involved with compiling the source code. That includes interpreting error messages, learning how to find missing pieces, etc.
As you noticed, you will get help if you’re stuck. Answering that help with a rant (again) about the manual doesn’t inspire me to help again though (even though I’m not targetted here). I’ve had to learn how to solve such problems as well…