After selecting "Gnome" from the gdm "Session"
menu, and then logging in, I find myself presented
with an IceWM desktop, not a gnome desktop. So
far I have been able to determine that gnome-wm
is not a window manager at all, but, rather, a
program that selects a window manager, and, if
not told which window manager to select, it selects
the "default" one, which (I verified empirically
by killing IceWM and then invoking gnome-wm) is
IceWM. I have tried, of course, to read the
fabulous manual before turning to linuxquestions.org
for help, but the desktop subsystem is astonishingly
poorly documented, and, perhaps even more to the
point, is impenetrably recondite and complex.
What files do I need to create or edit so that
a gnome desktop can be reached? Incidentally,
anticipating a possibly reply, this behavior occurs
even when logging in as a user from whose home
directory the .nautilus (what is nautilus, anyway?),
.gnome, .gnome2, and .gconf subdirectories have all
been removed. Thank you in advance for your help.

Here is additional information: the behavior described
above is indistinguishable from the "Gnome Failsafe"
behavior. In other words, choosing the "Gnome" session
brings one into the "Gnome Failsafe" session -- the "Gnome"
session is equivalent to the "Gnome Failsafe" session.
What files must I create or modify to obtain an actual
Gnome session on my computer? Once again, thank you
again for your help.