Ettore set me straight. The problem is that "oaf" is not looking in /usr/local/share/oaf , and if you do the default installation, CORBA won't work. Move the contents of /usr/local/share/oaf to /usr/share/oaf . Run oaf-slay. Various GNOME applications die. Start evolution. There may be a policy question here regarding "/usr/local" and oaf. Thanks Bruce