hosts.deny a directory???

[Kenward Vaughan <kaynjay@igalaxy.net>]

In today's system upgrade I got the following immediate message:

...
Preconfiguring packages ...
egrep: /etc/hosts.deny: Is a directory
fgrep: /etc/hosts.deny: Is a directory
...

'Tis true, and at least one other /etc file is now a directory
( /etc/passwd- ). 

The hosts.deny directory contains one file,  %gconf.xml

The passwd- directory has a single file as well,  cookie

I've had some problems recently with /etc getting mauled for unknown
reasons, requiring pulling out backups to fix things.  The file system for /
has been messed up several times as well, for unknown reasons.  

Should I consider reinstalling the system, or can I tell how clean things
are in some way to assess what the hell is going on?

Thanks,

Kenward
-- 
In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be 
_teachers_ and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, 
because passing civilization along from one generation to the next 
ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone 
could have.     - Lee Iacocca