Subj : Re: Open Source Leaving Microsoft Sitting on the Fence?
To   : comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux
From : Andy Fraser
Date : Sat Jul 24 2004 03:12 am

In comp.os.linux.misc, Peter Lu uttered these immortal words:

> I wanted to get the Nautilus file manager, which is only available in
> source.  So far, I've had to get some 1 dozen libraries and packages
> to build it, and I'm still stumped.  I just need the desktop to work
> to get other stuff done, for heaven's sake.  Instead, I'm stuck with
> using a buggy version or spending countless hours upgrading.

Did I miss something? On my Debian system:

beetle:~# apt-get install nautilus -s
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  capplets gnome-desktop-data gnome-session libbonoboui2-0 libeel2-2
libgnome-desktop-2 libgnome2-0 libgnomeui-0 libnautilus2-2
Suggested packages:
  gstreamer0.8-alsa gstreamer0.8-esd eog mpg321 mpg123
Recommended packages:
  nautilus-cd-burner
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  capplets gnome-desktop-data gnome-session libbonoboui2-0 libeel2-2
libgnome-desktop-2 libgnome2-0 libgnomeui-0 libnautilus2-2 nautilus
0 upgraded, 10 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Inst libgnome2-0 (2.6.1-8 Debian:unstable)
Inst libbonoboui2-0 (2.6.1-1 Debian:unstable)
Inst libgnomeui-0 (2.6.1.1-3 Debian:unstable)
Inst libeel2-2 (2.6.2-1 Debian:unstable)
Inst libgnome-desktop-2 (2.6.1-2 Debian:unstable)
Inst libnautilus2-2 (2.6.3b-1 Debian:unstable)
Inst gnome-session (2.6.2-3 Debian:unstable)
Inst gnome-desktop-data (2.6.1-2 Debian:unstable)
Inst nautilus (2.6.3b-1 Debian:unstable) []
Inst capplets (1:2.6.1-10 Debian:unstable)
Conf libgnome2-0 (2.6.1-8 Debian:unstable)
Conf libbonoboui2-0 (2.6.1-1 Debian:unstable)
Conf libgnomeui-0 (2.6.1.1-3 Debian:unstable)
Conf libeel2-2 (2.6.2-1 Debian:unstable)
Conf libgnome-desktop-2 (2.6.1-2 Debian:unstable)
Conf libnautilus2-2 (2.6.3b-1 Debian:unstable)
Conf gnome-session (2.6.2-3 Debian:unstable)
Conf gnome-desktop-data (2.6.1-2 Debian:unstable)
Conf capplets (1:2.6.1-10 Debian:unstable)
Conf nautilus (2.6.3b-1 Debian:unstable)

As you can see, Nautilus is available as a binary package in Debian and
using APT there's no dependency hell and not a source package in site. APT
does everything for me. Mandrake and Gentoo should work in a similar way.
I'd be surprised if Nautilus isn't available in binary packages for most
distros actually seeing as it's the Gnome file manager. So what distro are
you using that doesn't?

-- 
Andy.

.