Hoo boy...hey, try this: (Score 1)

It's really easy. Take any old machine. Yeah, even your old 486 that you don't even bother to boot anymore. Now, here's the key: ACTUALLY INSTALL LINUX FROM THE CDROM. Got problems? NOW'S the time to go read all those manuals. Nothing from those will stick unless it's relevant to what you are doing. I like your writing, despite lack of proof-reading (and I'm pretty anal about that kind of thing), but installing Linux is one of those things you just have to hurl yourself into. No amount of preparation (even a couple of prior installs) will guarantee that you won't run into problems on your current install. I have heard of people who don't know squat about hardware or software getting everything to work the first time. Then, there's me, armed with somewhat better than a vague understanding, faced with an apparently endless series of problems. What the hell...if you don't run into any problems, then you don't learn much, do you?