Well that's kind of the point--there isn't a better way in Linux, but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way to do it in general. Apt was designed I think

Well that's kind of the point--there isn't a better way in Linux, but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way to do it in general. Apt was designed I think mainly as a workaround for Linux dependency hell, with the side effect of it being convenient to install things. But the tradeoff is that all software updates rely on a single central location--Canonical's servers (besides PPAs). What if they go out of business, or the servers go down for some reason one day? The second you step outside of the Apt walled garden you're right back to the wild jungle of Linux dependency hell that makes it nigh-impossible to install anything without hair-pulling compilation sessions, in my experience. And yes, PPAs have inched closer to user-friendliness with recent releases, but they're not to the point where a non-terminal user can easily comprehend the concept and then install their own. Bringing this all back to the point--rolling releases--it's too difficult for many to install PPAs, and even so, PPAs don't always exist for core components that frequently have high-visibility regressions or bugs in new Ubuntu releases. For example, in Maverick hibernate for my laptop is broken. It freezes when it tries to hibernate. Where do I even start looking for a PPA that solves this problem? I don't--instead, I hold my breath for 6 months and don't use hibernate. That's not an acceptable solution.