Making prerequisites easy

[Elliot Lee <sopwith redhat com>]

As GNOME is being built, the authors of various programs/libraries often
realize that they could make use of already existing libraries instead of
reinventing the wheel. As GNOME is being installed, users often grumble
about the prerequisities that they must install in order to get GNOME up &
running.:)

As a result, authors sometimes shy away from requiring libraries that
would benefit GNOME as a whole. An example I can give right now is the
audiofile library (a library that loads various audio file formats), which
Tom Tromey suggested to use for loading sound effects and other useful
sound-related functionality.

Does anyone have ideas for making it easier to get GNOME installed, and
making the prerequisites look less threatening to new users?

Thanks,
-- Elliot
"In film you will find four basic story lines. Man versus man, man
 versus nature, nature versus nature, and dog versus vampire."
    - Steven Spielberg

(PS. I'm not suggesting that program authors add prerequisites flippantly,
but even ignoring new libraries that might be nice to use in GNOME, there
are quite a few existing prerequisites).