I have not been able to find a gconftool on Debian "Lenny" 5.0. There is a directory /etc/gconf but it doesn't have anything that appears useful in it. On the Desktop, System -> Preferences -> File Management has a number of options but opening new directory in same window is not one of them. Maybe I should be using a different distribution. I am being forced to change over from Solaris 2.6 to Linux. I like S2.6 and the OpenWindows desktop. Some things about the Linux Gnome Desktop I can customize, some things I can get used to but the file manager behavior is unacceptable. I despise and loathe it. It is wrong.