I guess everybody know about Debian GNU/Linux distribution. It is nice and simple to setup, not too newbie-ish, not to complex, just in the right balance. Debian also has an awesome package management system called ‘apt-get’ which manage your application/softwares inside your computer, apply updates, and deal with security patches. Debian has comprehensive repositories, spanning over 18 CDs for the i386 platform, making it one of the largest software repository among other GNU/Linux distros. Debian also support a total of 11 processor architectures, topping up other distribution which usually supports between 1-4 archicture (the usual architectures are : i386, amd-64, ppc,sparc).
Updated Softwares?
However, due to the complexities of supporting every platform, Debian rarely release software upadates to its users. This has cause problem to users who needs access to updated software or the much needed security patches. The usual applications request among others includes Openoffice, mozilla firefox, gaim, window managers (KDE,GNOME) and kernel updates.
Solutions to this problem?
While some people can live without software updates, there are people who needs updated software in order to keep up with the latest improvements and technology. Usually there a couple of choices for these group of people.
First, use the -sid (unstable/experimental branch) repository. You just need to edit your “/etc/apt/sources.list” file and uncomment sid-related repositories. Then you will need to run “apt-get dist-upgrade” to upgrade your distribution to -sid, the experimental Debian release.
The Backports.org solution
If you need to update only a handful packages critical only to your day-to-day work (and prefer to use a stable Debian release), then you can use Backports. In a nutshell, Backports are recompiled packages from testing (mostly) and unstable (in a few cases only, e.g. security updates), so they will run without new libraries (wherever it is possible) on a stable Debian distribution.
The website has an easy to follow instructions to use Backports apt-get repository to get updated software. The Backports is flexible enough that you can customize which software you want to be updated and the ones you wish to leave behind.
Final piece of advice
A piece of advise : while Backports provides an easy way to stay updated with your applications, it is advisable that you pick out single backports which fits your needs, and not to use all backports available there.
You can also use http://www.apt-get.org/ for nice backports for Debian.