  The latest measurements of $F_2$ at HERA allow for a {\it combination} of
gluon and sea quark distributions at small $x$ that is significantly different
from those of existing parton sets. We perform a new global fit to
deep-inelastic and related data. We find a gluon distribution which is larger
for $x \lapproxeq 0.01$, and smaller for $x \sim 0.1$, and a flatter input sea
quark distribution than those obtained in our most recent global analysis. The
new fit also gives $\alpha_s(M_Z^2) = 0.114$. We study other experimental
information available for the gluon including, in particular, the constraints
coming from fixed-target and collider prompt $\gamma$ production data.
