Many years ago (about 2000 or 2001 if I recall) I bought a boxed copy of SuSe Linux, dual-booted one of my computers, and gave open source software a go. It didn't pan out so well at all. I couldn't connect to the internet, I had no idea how to configure any of my hardware the installer missed, and I more or less felt completely lost. Fast forward to 2006 -- Under the guidance of my Linux-guru friend and a few online forums, I'm going to give it another shot. On my spare computer (AMD 1700+/102