[NCLUG] apt-get questions

[Marcio Luis Teixeira]

Hi there,

I finally decided to replace my RH installation with the Debian based Libranet 
distro. I've been using it for a while now and really like it, but now I have 
a couple general apt-get questions:

  1) What's the best front-end to "apt-get"? Right now I am using "synaptic", 
which is awesome (especially with the retro NeXTStep look), but it does lack 
a few handy features, such as a file list for installed packages ("dpkg -L"). 
Are there any front-ends out there that are more complete?

  2) How frequently are Debian packages updated? Are the package versions tied 
to the current stable release (like, Woody), or do they get upgraded 
independently of the releases? I'm sort of used to Gentoo, where packages get 
upgraded whenever their developers feel like it, and you get new packages on 
a daily basis. With Debian, does it make sense to check for updates every 
week (day, hour... whatever), or am I just wasting my time?

Thanks,

Marcio Luis Teixeira