How does one go about updating a program from source when it's old in repo?

[Red Squirrel]

I was going to report a bug in Kate editor, it's a bug that's been there forever (the disable swap file syncing option not working) but looks like it's been fixed. Problem is the version in the repo for Mint 17.1 is too old. If I just install from source normally then I'll probably end up with two versions, and the various references to it in the GUI such as "open with" will be pointing to the wrong one. How would I go about installing it as if it had been installed from the repo and also ensure it does not get overwritten when I do system updates?

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe a system update will update kate. You're a few minor releases back. If /I/ were to upgrade a single package, I'd look for a .deb from another source. Either a newer version of Mint, or Ubuntu. I compile source as a last resort.