Update manager and updating in general

[Jonathan Leonard]

	So my ubuntu studio informed me this morning that openoffice has an  
update available...there are also new versions of ardour and  
rosegarden though the update notification never mentions these.  I  
could care less about open office and all that other stuff.  What is  
ok to install for studio and what isn't?  I don't want to break  
anything in studio, but I am not sure what is safe to install.  And  
what is the best method - should I stick with synaptic, or do apt-get  
or compile manually?  I notice synaptic is not aware that I indeed  
installed alsa firmware - it remains unchecked.  Should I wait until  
ardour and rosegarden are brought to me via update manager, or should  
I wait until OCTOBER for the next release according to the roadmap?

	Not sure what the recommended procedure for updating is, and whether  
I should do this at all.

	Thanks,

jonathan