Should I use Django's contrib applications or build my own?
Most of the apps in django.contrib are written very well and are highly extensible.
Don't like quite how comments works? Subclass the models and forms within it, adding your own functionality and you have a working comment system that fits your sites schema, with little effort.
I think the best part when you extend the contrib apps is you're not really doing anything hacky, you're just writing (mostly) regular Python code to add the functionality.
The Django apps come with their own features and design. If your requirements don't match 100% with the features of the contib app, you end up customizing and tweaking the app. I feel this involves more effort than just building your own app to fit your requirements.
What do you think?