> Second, once we have done compiling a few times, compiling a program from its latest sources can be easier than figuring out how to install an often older version with our distribution’s package manager.
This is nonsense.
This is nonsense.
The distribution's package manager will identify when there's a newer version, especially with critical security fixes, so I don't have to regularly do manual checks to see if something should be upgraded.
Newest isn't always better, and I'm usually happy to be conservative about common system utilities like tar and gzip.