My point is that as linux ages and gets more popular, many of the flavors have become rather boring. Debian is an example. Going outside the Debian repositories is a no-no. But Vector is fun, in my case, because I am less fearful of breaking it. I find that when I want to try something new, I do it on 'vector. Problem is that the new program generally comes in some other format....usually it seems ubuntu or red hat. The trouble with make, make install etc is that if the program doesn't work, its difficult to uninstall it.
I see Vector's notch as being a place where source programs can be installed. Most vendors provide a source version. Dependencies will always be a problem, and changing this may break that. But if we vectorites could fearlessly opt for the source as the default and install from source, perhaps we could recapture some of the fun in computing.
I know I used to install from source and slackbuilds a lot.
Just my two bits worth.
You guys are doing a great job. I regret having too little time to be of much help.