hello I am a linux newbie. I like linux a lot but I also want to be able to use my microsoft office that I spent a lot of money on. My solution was vmware. Now that I have it how do I compile it? Remember I am just starting off. The file I am supposed to compile seems to be a pearl file. I have no idea how to compile it. I tried gcc but it didn't recognize it. I tried changing the name of it to vmware.c and then compiling it and it got a ton of errors. Thanks for the help and keep in mind that I am new. Also, what do you think is better:
1. Running windows with vmware running linux
2. Running linux with vmware running windows

Once you are within the directory that contains vmware-configure.pl, all you type is ./vmware-configure.pl The script compiles and asks questions for you. All you do then is answer the questions.

It is more stable to run Windows inside or on a linux host.
Things I notice are

Windows won't fragment
XP boots a lot quicker

since I already have windows and linux both setup on different partitions, is there any way I can tell vmware that I already have it installed that way I don't have to reinstall it through vmware?
oh and thanks for the help on the install file.

It is possible, I was reading that on their website before I formatted my hard drive to get rid of my windows partition. You'll have to search their site.