I found that I had an older version of the 'gem.pd_linux' from June 4 2009

so I download the src and compiled Gem 0.92.3

and installed the new 'gem.pd_linux' binary in the Gem lib

now [plugin~] no longer crashes when sent [info] and [listplugins] messages

**major thanks to IOhannes and Hans-Christoph for their assistance and patience!

:)