Alright I have slackware 9.0 (kernel 2.4.20), apparently this sort of webcam support is supposed to be built into the kernel, however on the kernel I picked in slackware, it wasn't . Now I'm trying to build and install the pwc modules from http://www.smcc.demon.nl/webcam/ , I am not sure how to compile this...I tried passing the .c files individually and altogether in the gcc compiler but I got a bunch of errors both times, can someone point me in the right direction of how I can build these modules and install them, since the dude at the webpage really doesn't seem keen on helping those who don't know how to do it.

I believe you need to recompile your kernel to support the camera, the defauult kernel used by Slack is the bare.i kernel, and recompiling your own custom kernel is highly recommended to fully utilize your system.