ok im new to slackware and i have a few problems..
when i try to start xchat.. i get this error..

bash-2.05a$ xchat
xchat: error while loading shared libraries: libgmodule-1.2.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

can anyone please tell what this means and how to fix it..
i have added a search on google but didnt find anything that would help

The package system of slackware doesn't seem to handle dependencies. THe error means, that xchat is trying to load a library it cannot find, but which is neede for xchat to run. These libraries sit in /lib, /usr/lib and /usr/local/lib. If the library is on your hd, then just run ldconfig (as root). Make sure that the path to the library is lited in the file /etc/ld.so.conf. If the library is not on your hd, you have to install it from your slackware cd. A search on google revealed, that libgmodule is in the package "glib-xxx". To install the library, do the following:
- mount the cdrom
- cd into <path_to_cdrom>/slackware/l
- run pkgtool (as root)
- select current
don't install anything until you find glib. If xchat wouldn't run after, run ldconfig and all should be well.
Good luck

Also if you can't figure what library is missing, run ldd /path/to/program, and it'll tell you which libraries are not found. Here's an example, with all dependencies sorted:
|:-(Thu Jan 16 20:13:51)-(nskl@Slackbox:~)$ ldd /usr/bin/xchat
/lib/libsafe.so.2 => /lib/libsafe.so.2 (0x40016000)
libgmodule-1.2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgmodule-1.2.so.0 (0x4002b000)
libglib-1.2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libglib-1.2.so.0 (0x4002e000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x40051000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/libm.so.6 (0x40054000)
libcrypt.so.1 => /lib/libcrypt.so.1 (0x40075000)
libutil.so.1 => /lib/libutil.so.1 (0x400a2000)
libgnomeui.so.32 => /usr/lib/libgnomeui.so.32 (0x400a5000)
libart_lgpl.so.2 => /usr/lib/libart_lgpl.so.2 (0x40179000)
libgdk_imlib.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgdk_imlib.so.1 (0x40188000)
libSM.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libSM.so.6 (0x401a9000)
libICE.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libICE.so.6 (0x401b1000)
libgtk-1.2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgtk-1.2.so.0 (0x401c7000)
libgdk-1.2.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk-1.2.so.0 (0x402ec000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x4031e000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x4032b000)
libgnome.so.32 => /usr/lib/libgnome.so.32 (0x403e4000)
libgnomesupport.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgnomesupport.so.0 (0x403fd000)
libesd.so.0 => /usr/lib/libesd.so.0 (0x40402000)
libaudiofile.so.0 => /usr/lib/libaudiofile.so.0 (0x40409000)
libdb.so.2 => /lib/libdb.so.2 (0x4042a000)
libzvt.so.2 => /usr/lib/libzvt.so.2 (0x40437000)
libgdk_pixbuf.so.2 => /usr/lib/libgdk_pixbuf.so.2 (0x4044c000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x40460000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x40584000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)
HTH
-NSKL