Ok, so newbie is ready to take the next step. I like what GIMP 2.0 is supposed to be able to do, so i downloaded and tried to install it. oops...need GTK 2.2.2+

so i download 2.2.4, install that, GIMP still not happy. GTK website suggests deleting older instances of GTK. May require recompiling other programs that depend on GTK. Ok, I can do that.

Except, Gnome depends on GTK, and the RH front-end also seems to depend on that.

(this is RH9)

What is the best way out of this mess? I'm not even sure if i have the source for Gnome on my disk, or which module i need to deal with. I suppose i could re-install RH, but i'm afraid i would take everything i've changed since my installation with it.

ps--how would a more savvy user have done this GIMP installation?

maybe try using apt4rpm to make sure all the gtk stuff is installed and up to date, and then see if the gimp works then. if it doesn't, i would apt-get remove gtk+ to see if that would clear it out, and then start over fresh. if apt-get doesn't do it, you might just have to go through manually and remove older versions of gtk+.

for your last question, i'll risk a flame and say a savvy user wouldn't be using RH.

my initial post may not have been clear.

I basically can't boot linux now.

I've already manually removed all traces i can find of older GTK. The problem is booting--and if i boot from a rescue disk an get a command line, i think i need to recompile things that depended on GTK. which may be a long list.

gtk+ shouldn't have anything to do with booting linux. if you can get to a command line, either use apt-get to reinstall gtk+ or compile a new copy. then see what works and what doesn't. i doubt you'll have to recompile much of anything though. so first get gtk+ back.

no no no

I HAVE GTK.

see *** below,from the GTK FAQ (on the GTK website):

When installing a GTK+ application, configure reports that it can't find GTK. [GTK 2.x]

There are several common reasons for this:

* You have an old version of GTK installed somewhere. You should remove this old copy, but ****** note that this may break applications that have been compiled against the old version.
* pkg-config (or another component of GTK) isn't in your path, or there is an old version on your system. Type:

why didn't you say so in the first place?

do you have gtk+2? there must be some reason gnome won't start.

you could also try export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/pkgconfig

or whatever is the path to the file it is telling you it can't find when you do a compile of a gtk+ application. then recompile the application.

>edit: for all the confusion, it seems pretty clear that removing the gtk broke your gnome and possibly other applications. so i guess i'm not really sure what you're asking -- you already answered your own question: you're going to have to recompile a bunch of gnome stuff to the new gtk you installed, or else go back to the old gtk you had and see if that will let the gui and gnome applications work again. i just went through the same thing, except most of gnome was slackware packages so i didn't have to recompile anything. gl.

I'm not even to the point of trying to complile an application--I'm not sure which app is hanging (the hang point is on logon--it complains about lack of theme).

okay, well what precisely does it say? that will give you a clue about what you need to recompile to the new gtk.

"The theme for the graphical greeter is corrupt. It does not contain the definition for the username/password entry element"

okay, i believe that's part of gdm (gnome display mananger). try reinstalling gdm and see if that fixes the theme.