First post, most likely with more to come...

I'm a relative newcomer to Linux, having started with my Sharp Zaurus last autumn. I installed Red Hat 9 on my main PC over the Christmas holiday, and have since added apt-get and SynAPTic to help with software upgrades. (Why RH9? Simple - at the time, it was the only distro I had, having come with the SAMS "24 Hours" book I bought a few months back. I have Fedora Core 1 now, but that'll have to wait for my next PC.)

Overall, I'm really impressed with RH9 (desktop Linux has come on so far in the last couple of years!), but I'm wondering whether/how to upgrade Gnome (the desktop I use) from 2.2 to 2.4. In a nutshell, this is what I'm hoping you could help with:

- I've heard it's possible to upgrade Gnome "wholesale" using apt-get - is this true?
- Which repository/repositories would have the Gnome 2.4 packages? (I'm not sure freshrpms.net does - I think they're still on 2.2.)
- Could I use SynAPTic to upgrade, or...
- ...would I need to shut down the X server and/or the Gnome desktop, and use the command line?

If upgrading to 2.4 is impossible with apt, presumably I would need to compile it - I suppose I need more practice at that anyway

Thanks in advance for any help!

Tim