hey ,
i have ubuntu 8.04 hardy , with inkscape 0.46
i tried to compile 0.47 but i faild, the problem is :
when i open inkscape it doesn't open , i tried to open it from terminal and it says:
"segmentation fault "
i tried to reinstall it from synaptic but the problem still there it's the only vector graphics program i use please help i can't work

When you are configuring unstable branch of Inkscape, do this with sth like "configure --prefix=/opt/inkscape" or "configure --prefix=/usr/local", this way you will be able to keep SVN version of Inkscape next to stable one from repository.

I'm currently using those packages on Debian: http://art.sidux.com/
I can't guarantee you that they will work under Ubuntu, but some time ago I was using Inkscape packages for Ubuntu under Debian and they worked fine.

Also try moving your ~/.inkscape dir away, sometimes some specific settigns cause segfaults (if you have merged svn version today, Inkscape already uses blank config from ~/.local/Inkscape).

i failed to finish the compilation, and that's not the problem now the problem is
inkscape raise an error when opened "segmentation error"
i tried to rename ~/.inkscape to ~/.inkscape2
but it still raise error , man i have headache what should i do?

You should ask developers, maybe best on IRC, you have info about what channel on Inkscape website

blaz_boy wrote:i failed to finish the compilation, and that's not the problem now the problem is
inkscape raise an error when opened "segmentation error"
i tried to rename ~/.inkscape to ~/.inkscape2
but it still raise error , man i have headache what should i do?

Then reporting a bug would be the best thing to do. But first try to figure out what caused the problem, did it start crashing after upgrading some packages?