that gcc thingy
 

This gcc thingy has always been a problem for me. I just want to install Nautilus and use that has my file browser.

When I do the ./configure, I always get the same error: it is;

jymmi@jymmi-desktop:~/temp$ cd gcc-4.2.0
jymmi@jymmi-desktop:~/temp/gcc-4.2.0$ ./configure
creating cache ./config.cache
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnulibc1
checking target system type... i686-pc-linux-gnulibc1
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnulibc1
checking for a BSD compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether ln works... yes
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking for gcc... gcc
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) works... no
configure: error: installation or configuration problem: C compiler cannot create executables.

I get the same error with trying to ./configure Nautilus as well. I had the same problem with Dapper 6.06 as well. It is beginning to be an annoyance, a common happening that is preventing me from installing the needed software I need to migrate from Windoze to Linux.

If I need the gcc files to install some software , than why can the gcc libraries not be easier to install. I did a $ locate gcc from the terminal, and something showed up, saying I have them. I am confused.

Thanks for any help, suggestions etc.

First off, gcc is not libraries, it's the GNU Compiler Collection. Thus, you can't compile it without a working compiler. My advice: don't compile from source. For something like nautilus, you don't need to. Just use binaries provided by your distribution. I'm not sure about Mandrake, but it probably uses RPM or DEBs or something like that to do installs.

gcc will be available through the package manager for any distro--it should NEVER be necessary to compile it.

I justed checked the repositories (using the package manager) for my distro (Mepis) and Nautilus is there. I'm sure it will be there for Mandrake too.

BUT--if using Mandrake, why not update to Mandriva first?? I'm not sure how well-maintained the repositories for Mandrake are.