gnome .deb install probs

[Graham Ashton <graz@mindless.com>]

I've downloaded libgnome0_0.30-1_i386.deb from ftp.gnome.org, and have
just tried installing it on my hamm box. I got a load of dependency
problems with dpkg, even for things that are installed. I installed 

  libglib1.1.13_1.1.13-1_i386.deb
  libgtk1.1.13_1.1.13-1_i386.deb

without any problem. When trying to install libgnome0, dpkg complains
that I don't have (amongst other things) the right versions of libglib
and libgtk! I think I do, and am a little confused.

humbug:root> dpkg -i libgnome0_0.30-1_i386.deb 
Selecting previously deselected package libgnome0.
(Reading database ... 39220 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libgnome0 (from libgnome0_0.30-1_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of libgnome0:
 libgnome0 depends on gdk-imlib1 (>= 1.7); however:
  Package gdk-imlib1 is not installed.
 libgnome0 depends on libglib1.1 (>= 1.1.3-1); however:
  Package libglib1.1 is not installed.
 libgnome0 depends on libgtk1.1 (>= 1:1.1.2-1); however:
  Package libgtk1.1 is not installed.
 libgnome0 depends on liborbit0 (>= 0.3.0-1); however:
  Package liborbit0 is not installed.
 libgnome0 depends on libungif3g (>= 3.0-2) | giflib3g (>= 3.0-5.2); however:
  Package libungif3g is not installed.
  Version of giflib3g on system is 3.0-5.
dpkg: error processing libgnome0 (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 libgnome0

All I really want to do is to get enough of gnome installed to let me
use the balsa mail client. 

Do I need to install lots of packages from slink or potato to get
everything I need? Would I be better off just upgrading to slink right
now anyway?

I'm really not liking this very much, and am starting to think it's too
hard... hello tarball, my old friend...

Can anybody point me in the right direction (i.e. should I upgrade the
whole box, or should I just go and get specific packages from another
distribution?)

-- 
Graham