Like I said before, if you want an easy to use desktop system...try Ubuntu. They release security fixes in a timely fashion and test the setups themselves. It really is easy to use and is worth your time. If you don't like Debian, please try Ubuntu or another offshoot of it because I think you will be much happier. On another note, anyone that said Debian was a "joy-gasm" probably also mentioned that it really is a difficult setup to use for home use. It really just wasn't designed with that in mind.
If you think compiling from source is where the future is, I am truly sorry for you. The people at Debian have done some really good things, including apt and dpkg. Without these distribution tools for binary packages for Debian, Debian and its spinoffs would certainly be dead. Remember that the developers for Debian spend most of there time testing these packages and repackaging them into deb packages so no one HAS to compile from source. Also, Debian has spawned some great distros to follow in its footsteps that make the linux experience something that you can teach to your average computer user. If you take your time to learn more about Ubuntu you'll realize that there is another layer of package editing and testing between you and the Debian folks and perhaps you'll be convinced that the mess you talk about doesn't exist. Debian derivatives are some of the most prominent distros right now with Ubuntu having the most hits (and still rising) on http://www.distrowatch.com/. Give that a try before you write off Debian completely.
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Like I said before, if you want an easy to use desktop system...try Ubuntu. They release security fixes in a timely fashion and test the setups themselves. It really is easy to use and is worth your time. If you don't like Debian, please try Ubuntu or another offshoot of it because I think you will be much happier. On another note, anyone that said Debian was a "joy-gasm" probably also mentioned that it really is a difficult setup to use for home use. It really just wasn't designed with that in mind.
If you think compiling from source is where the future is, I am truly sorry for you. The people at Debian have done some really good things, including apt and dpkg. Without these distribution tools for binary packages for Debian, Debian and its spinoffs would certainly be dead. Remember that the developers for Debian spend most of there time testing these packages and repackaging them into deb packages so no one HAS to compile from source. Also, Debian has spawned some great distros to follow in its footsteps that make the linux experience something that you can teach to your average computer user. If you take your time to learn more about Ubuntu you'll realize that there is another layer of package editing and testing between you and the Debian folks and perhaps you'll be convinced that the mess you talk about doesn't exist. Debian derivatives are some of the most prominent distros right now with Ubuntu having the most hits (and still rising) on http://www.distrowatch.com/. Give that a try before you write off Debian completely.