Currency of packages

[jennyw]

I started using Debian because folks suggested it was easy to maintain (e.g. apt-get). I really like apt -- it certainly makes installing and downloading things a lot easier than other distributions.  However ... I'm not (yet) a heavy Linux user, and I find that a lot of times I want software that's more recent than the stuff in the packages. This usually means that I end up downloading stuff and compiling new software.   How do other people deal with this?  Do you install the new software you need manually and then when the package gets released install it again with apt-get (probably not practical for frequently updated software)?  Do you just use apt-get by default and download and compile when you need to (and then never use apt for those packages)?   Also, I'm currently using potato because it's labeled as stable. Would I be making a bad mistake by moving to Woody to get some of the more recent stuff?  What about mixing stable and testing/unstable distributions?  Is this generally unwise?   It just seems like it's hard to use Debian without downloading stuff.  Some of the software I'm installing seems like it would be pretty common:   Cyrus IMAP (2.x -- current version is 1.5.19; there is no later version in testing or unstable) Postfix (20010228 or higher -- current version is 19991231; there is a later version in testing)   I'd like to hear how Debian old-timers work with this.   Thanks!   Jen