Macports generally builds the latest version from source. I've had problems with a few things in the past needing manual patching, but overall I like it. You can keep multiple versions installed, but only one can be active at a time.
Fink downloads pre-built binaries, but AFAIR, it can build from source, too. It also has a GUI interface.
Fink downloads pre-built binaries, but AFAIR, it can build from source, too. It also has a GUI interface.
That's about all the insight I can provide.