That is simply LTS afaik. Ubuntu updates Firefox. Chrome has its own PPA anyways.
Why ssh and openssl? Security patches are backported.
For other specific applications, I use PPAs.
What he want is a solution that updates the packages he happens to want while backporting fixes to everything else (until he wants an update to the latest version). Of course, that's what everybody wants!
Unfortunaly it's impossible to deliver unless you pay people to do the work or do it yourself.
This would be a model where specifically designated software is always kept up to the latest versions (primarily for : ssh, openssl, browsers.