I am not claiming this is going to be less painful than what author experienced but on Debian/Ubuntu - `apt-get build-dep` can be sometimes very useful for installing source dependencies of packages when you are compiling something more latest by hand (Such as, Compiling emacs 24.4 by hand? `apt-get build-dep emacs` and then compile emacs).
On another note - I like that additional ppas some more popular open source projects provide. Such as - nodejs. mongo etc. These def. help in installing _the latest_ version of required software. However maintaining ppas for lone developer project can be chore (although much of that can be automtated via launchpad).
On another note - I like that additional ppas some more popular open source projects provide. Such as - nodejs. mongo etc. These def. help in installing _the latest_ version of required software. However maintaining ppas for lone developer project can be chore (although much of that can be automtated via launchpad).