Ok Tim,
I am running the blink sketch that 1.0.1 installed... but maybe I have to get rid of all the older stuff first? I have seen the file arduino.h, but maybe things are like you say, antiquated somehow. Is there an easy command to automate this or do I have to go in and pull weeds by hand, so to speak? The arduino IDE is not "installed", juts unzipped and run. BTW, no sketches will compile, old or new. Like the title says, total breakdown. I just tried unpacking it again, in the home folder... same results.