TODO Installation steps (before we create a deb)

Prerequisites:
python > 2.5
python-mapnik (tested with 0.6 built from source, for Ubuntu instructions see http://trac.mapnik.org/wiki/UbuntuInstallation)
python-gdal

First test with gnomevfs-info if the mime-type is registered already:

gnomevfs-info yourshape.shp

If the mime-type is "application/octet-stream" add the following to /usr/share/mime/packages/Overrides.xml:

<mime-type type="application/x-esri-shape">
   <comment>ESRI Shapefile</comment>
   <glob pattern="*.shp"/>
</mime-type>

And update the mime database with:

sudo update-mime-database /usr/share/mime

Copy mapnik-thumbnailer.schema to /usr/share/gconf/schemas:

sudo cp $WORKING_COPY/mapnik-thumbnailer.schema /usr/share/gconf/schemas

Install it:

gconftool-2 --install-schema-file /usr/share/gconf/schemas/mapnik-thumbnailer.schema 

Copy the thumbnailer:

sudo cp mapnik-thumbnailer /usr/bin

Log out or restart Nautilus with:

killall nautilus -9

Open Nautilus and browse to a catalog with shape-files. You need to have the .prj files for this to work.
With a little luck you will see a rendered map of your shape-file.
  



Reference:
http://library.gnome.org/admin/system-admin-guide/stable/mimetypes-modifying.html.en#mimetypes-addmodify