I am new to Linux as a whole, so please be forgiving if I say something silly or obvious. I am an (relatively) experienced windows user, but I have never really tinkered with anything using the command line before. I just got my hands on a pre-release Compal MID (don't ask how) that runs Linux. So far, I have been unable to bring up the command line prompt.

The reason why I need the command line is that I want to install a piece of software which I recently obtained that has build instructions using the linux command line. I have done an hour or so of googling and have found out how to bring up the command line using netbooks, but nothing for my MID. If anybody could help me out I would REALLY apprecitate it. Thanks!

Try to find something like "terminal" or "console" in the menu.

It should open a new window where you will be able to type Linux commands.