Can I use more recent versions of applications than what is in the repositories?

[Dave M G]

Ubuntu Users,

	With at least two applications - bittorrent and gnucash - the version
on the application's official web site is more recent than what it in
the Universe repositories.
	I've attempted to install bittorrent from the deb package on the web
page, but it doesn't work. (Ubuntu is Debian based, isn't it?)

	Before I go stumbling in the dark with Gnucash, as I'm doing with
bittorrent, is there something I don't understand about Ubuntu
compatibility with applications outside of the official repositories?



--
Dave M G