Debian.org packages on ubuntu?
 

I've been using Debian Lenny for quite a while, and have been experimenting with Ubuntu.

What I'm wondering is, can I use packages from debian.org repos on Ubuntu? Debian has quite a few more packages, some of which I'd like to access, but I don't know about hte interopability...

thanks!

I think so, but I'm not 100% sure.

And why not just keep using Debian?

Installing Debian packages on Ubuntu may work, but it is not recommended. Although Ubuntu is based on Debian, the Ubuntu devs make changes to many of the Debian packages that are in the Ubuntu repos. So installing a Debian package on Ubuntu may not work. It also could overwrite Ubuntu libs that could cause other problems. Also, a Debian package may be looking for a different version of libc6 or other libs than those that are on Ubuntu.
One thing you should absolutely never do is install Ubuntu packages on Debian.
Do you have the universe and multiverse repos enabled in Ubuntu? Most of the extra stuff is in those repos. Universe and multiverse seem to be enabled by default now on Intrepid, so you probably already have them enabled.
What packages are you looking for? If they are not in the Ubuntu repos, check the developer's website. Many linux devlopers package binary .deb packages for Ubuntu, since Ubuntu is so popular.

Do not mix debian and ubuntu packages. Other than a few ubuntu oriented packages there are very few things that are not in both repos.