@philo

With your suggestions, I have achieved about a 99% satisfactory solution
which includes the following:

1. gedit loads and functions apparently without obvious difficulty using
MainMenu>Accessories>gedit;

2. nautilus doesn't appear as a main menu selection, but if accessed via
a command-line, it loads and functions reasonably. However there are non-
fatal warnings that appear before the gui kicks in;

3. If one accesses gedit via a command-line, it is apparent that it too
produces similar but different non-fatal warnings before a gui appears;
and finally,

4. Synaptic seems to display consistent gedit 3.14 and nautilus 3.14 pkgs
with no mention of broken packages or 3.18 material for either of these.

I am placated by this solution, but Klaus K may not be satisfied with the
minor imperfections that would require some additional cosmetic repairs.