Keep getting "Enter your password to perform administrative task" in Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat custom install

I have a custom Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat install using alternate install. Part of the minimal install was a lean GNOME configuration with only the bare minimum applications installed.

I have added synaptic and update-manager to keep the system up to date using GUI application. The issue was that when I open up Synaptic, I keep getting:

Enter your password to perform administrative task

To fix this, add desktop-base, thus say:

sudo aptitude install desktop-base

Enjoy!

~ts