Here you have a sample gdb.ini file listing, which gives better results when using gdb. Under linux you should put this in a .gdbinit file in your home directory or the current directory.
set print demangle off set gnutarget auto set verbose on set complaints 1000 set language c++ set print vtbl on set print object on set print symbol-filename on set print pretty on disp /i $eip
The current versions of GDB understand sets and strings, in older versions it was not possible to print them.