Debian desktop

[ron.peterson at yellowbank.com (Ron Peterson)]

Anyone have any advice about how to /elegantly/ install an up-to-date
desktop on Debian?  I'm thinking stable/potato, but I could probably be
convinced that woody is far enough along to consider also.

I don't yet have a lot of experience with Debian.  I'm trying to convert
from Red Hat.  I'm contemplating installing Debian on a pool of
workstations used by the Math Department at Mt. Holyoke College.  I know
I could configure a nice setup for them using Red Hat.  I like Debian's
package management tools better, though.  The problem is, the
stable/potato desktop packages are rather out-of-date.  In fact, I'm not
sure the stable xfree86 will even work with the new hardware we'll be
using.  There are newer .deb's available, but if I start getting too
tricky with the package management, I'm obviating the advantages that
sold me on this solution in the first place.

Any advice?

-Ron-
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