"When what you want isn't in a repository or you want a newer version than the repository has is where you hit problems." You have an excellent point there. A

"When what you want isn't in a repository or you want a newer version than the repository has is where you hit problems." You have an excellent point there. A recent example is that it took FREAKING forever before Firefox 3.5 was in the Ubuntu repositories, and it's still only in Jaunty. If you're running an older version (like Intrepid or Hardy) then there is no simple way to run 3.5. Seriously???? I need to upgrade my entire OS to upgrade my browser? WTF! You can of course install from source.. That's easy enough for most of us here on HN, but not exactly end user friendly. IMHO part of the reason package repositories for Linux distro's don't work as well as something like the iPhone App Store or the Android Market is that they're to fragmented. Even for a major open source project like Mozilla, getting your latest release into every major version of every major distro's repositories is a pretty major undertaking. Not to mention of course that the iPhone App Store and the Android market allow for both open source and commercial software.