With Synaptic, your development tools and apps are pretty much a click away if not already installed.
Me, I use Arch. I'm always tweaking shit and don't want the distro getting in my way, which Debian-based distros have a tendency to do.
I liked arch for a little bit but just like ubuntu more, debian sadly is too dated for my hardware and I don't feel like using sid. If you do like arch for the fact that you can start from the ground up you should try doing an ubuntu minimal install (from here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD).
I don't use Arch because I want the absolute bare minimum of functionality. I am just tired of seeing comments of the type:
# don't edit this file; use debian-specific-tool(8) instead to change it
in my /etc. I want to tweak e.g., resolv.conf my own damn self, without fearing that I'm interfering with the distro's way of doing things.
That's what I want from my Linux. Arch gets me most of the way there, has a kick-ass package system and rolling releases like Gentoo, but without the hassle of recompiling the freaking world when some critical library changes.
It was more if you just like having the minimal system and choosing which software you wanted. Debian administration really isn't as bad as you seem to think but you're welcome to your opinions.
Personally I like BSD's (mostly freebsd) and am using ubuntu for matlab and an unsupported wireless card in bsd, but that just makes arch seem lacking when I use it
Did you try debian testing?
My experience with rolling release:
I tried Gentoo and then Arch, moving off both after they pushed updates which completely broke my system.
Gentoo has a disclaimer that you need to check each update individually, Arch was a little bit more realistic, but on the flip-side contradictory - some places they tell you to just update often, and others tell you to check packages for problems as with Gentoo.
If you do not intend to check each update for breakages (like me), then my advice is to not use Gentoo or Arch (but if you are willing to check all updates, then I'd recommend them).
Debian testing's been okay for me so far and I've got greater confidence that they a) won't be as likely to break my system, and b) will send an update to revert or fix in a reasonable time if they do.
If (or when?) this breaks, I'll go back to Ubuntu, full circle.