The piecemeal upgrade approach I've tried seems to have paid off, at least slightly... "apt-get install gcc-4.4 libc6.1 libc6.1-dev" resulted in only seven package removals: libgnome2-perl, libgnome2-vfs-perl, libperl5.10, libpurple0, libsvn-perl, pidgin, and svn-buildpackage. None seem critical. On the plus side, 46 of the held-back upgrades will now be automatically applied due to the gcc and libc6.1 upgrades. Not a bad trade. --Bob