got tired of having to compile everthing I installed after downloading the libraries and searching for hours for instructions on how to do it

It has to be rather obscure stuff if apt-get install [package name] doesn't do it.
Once in a blue moon I'll have to do ./configure; make; make install, but it isn't very often. I'll gladly take that before dll-hell...

But then again I have both a Linux machine and an XP machine...

/Michael
_________________________
/Michael