[Gimp-user] Ubuntu version

[Dave Kimble <dave kimble gmx com>]

On the GIMP home page it says GIMP v2.8 was released on 2012-05-03.
On the downloads page it says for Ubuntu use the Ubuntu Software Centre.
That only has v2.6.12 .
There doesn't seem to be any other way of getting it.

I want the latest version because various posts indicate the 
counter-intuitive behaviour of Toolbox Window etc has changed, and it 
seems pointless to complain if it has already been fixed.

My question on v2.6.12 is: since there are only 3 tools in the Toolbox 
that I ever use,
and no buttons to bring up the Brightness/Contrast dialog etc,
how do I change the contents of Toolbox ?
In most apps, for example Firefox, you have View > Toolbars > Customise
and can then drag and drop the buttons you use regularly from/to a pool 
of buttons.

I thought there must be at least a plug-in that does that, because it is 
so obvious,
but the plug-ins registry doesn't seem to have anything like that under 
Toolbox or Toolbar.

Am I missing something ?