I have a new Debian 3.0/testing installation which uses gnome 2.2 by default. The problem is that after login it would only show the splash screen and 'window manager' before taking me to an empty gnome desktop. I couldn't right-click, there were no icons, etc.

I did apt-get install nautilus which put 7 packages in my system and now after login it gets past 'window manager' and 'nautilus' before throwing me on the desktop. There are a few generic icons and right-click works, but there is still no toolbar.

I think something has gone terribly wrong in the installation process somewhere (how could debian have installed gnome but not nautilus!?). Does anyone know how to complete my gnome installation? Else, how can I remove gnome and start over?

TIA

aptitude

Have you installed a Window Manager?

I think the window manager was the problem.. I ended up starting over and got it working the 2nd time around.

The (meta-)package is called gnome-core; thus "apt-get install gnome-core" would have been a better decision.