self-taught w/respect to computer hw and sw apps
however only in the "w" eniviroment of late
intelligent, can grasp nearly anything
after many years of viruses and other malicious code wrecking my gig
a wizard at ibm advised me to migrate to linux
says structure is more sound as an os
says security is astronomically better
says open source code is the cat's ass

here's my deal

not all of my applications are transferrable
(are any of them?)
so I will need to operate the "w" os to some extent
at least for now

have a 733mhz p3 w/512mb ram that I wish to use as the crime dawg
ie, have been told to use this designated pc to "filter" my cable signal
eg, this pc runs some version of linux with a/v and firewall s/w
in addition, we want smth to record demographics of intruders

I have a cd copy of fedora core

correct me as appropriate, suggest where you wish, warn when necessary

put linux (in some version) on the p3
download a/v, firewall, spyware, and "blackICE"-type s/w
run cable input to cable modem, then to router (?)
router to p3 where everything is scrutinized microscopically
p3 to router, router to 3.06 p4 - wxp will stay there for a time

a wizard somewhere must be reading this
cop a tude, take a bow and introduce yourself
you're the wiz... advise... educate so that I may someday do the same

thank you to anyone willing to begin to show me this new way

you might want to start by looking at ClarkConnect .

ClarkConnect transforms standard PC hardware into a dedicated broadband gateway and easy-to-use server. The award-winning Linux-based solution includes firewall and security tools, along with file, print, web, e-mail, proxy, antivirus, antispam, content filtering and VPN servers.

h'lo piscikeeper
sincere thx for my 1st response
indulge me for a bit, plz?
random questions float about in my mind

Im math degreed by education, a self-taught and endlessly fascinated aspiring geek

the w os and related sw are my strengths. understand rudimentary hw apps.

back before we walked erect and had to use punchcard readers, I learned flowcharting, fortran77, assembly, can read cobol, have some bkgd in prehistoric cad operation

loved f77 and assembly

is there any application for which assembly language is crucial/helpful?

I'd love to be able to code sw, eventually, if possible, and other tidbits

are there fctnl differences between the linux "os" and a w "os"?

comparatively, ms office is almost a must for that os. warrants purchase. similar applications for a linux environment?

clarkconnect. got it.
terriffic lead! yes, thank you
you made the day

suggested url's for:
a browser?
a mail handler?
a word processor (open office?)
indigenous search engines, etc?

apologies for the literary license. I'm affectionately excited about how "the other people" live.

browser:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
http://www.opera.com
and the konqueror built within KDE

mail:
http://www.novell.com/products/deskt...evolution.html
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/
kmail - one bundled with kdenetwork - its my fav mail client

word processor:
the writer with openoffice
Abiword
Kword (comes with koffice)

search:
www.google.com
www.google.com/linux

desktop search utility:
Beagle- http://www.gnome.org/projects/beagle/

Cd burning:
command line: cdrdao and cdrecord
gui: k3b, gnomebaker, graveman ...