OS2007 software that doesn't use the gui (e.g., command line programs) will run just fine in os2008. The problem is that not all such software was copied into the 2008 repositories. If you find a "mistral" or "bora" (i.e., os2007) repository that has what you want (and is a command-line app) the app will probably work. If it won't install, save the .deb file and try to install it from xterm (as root) with dpkg -i your_app.deb. don't worry, it will still show up in the application manager so that you can uninstall it if need be.

Search on gronmayer.com/it for arepository with your software.