The following is a list of Linux User Group in Louisiana.
http://www.linux.org/groups/usa/louisiana.html
The motherboard that your friend gave you is very obsolete. You will have to find a processor, heatsink, graphics card, and hard drive if all you have is the motherboard and computer case.
The processor will be the hardest to find and the second hardest is the video card. Try finding a Pentium III for a socket 370 motherboard. The maximum speed the motherboard can handle depends on the BIOS. It looks like it is 800 MHz. After you pick the processor, do not forget about the heatsink.
An AGP video card will be hard to find because your motherboard does not support 1.5 volt versions and AGP is being rush to be off the shelves.
Memory will be the easiest because Crucial and Kingston still sells SDRAM, what your motherboard uses. Just visit crucial.com or kingston.com and look up the motherboard brand and model. They should have memory that are compatible with your motherboard.
The optical drive or DVD-ROM and hard drive are easy to find for IDE or ATA. The following drive should work and may not match the color of your case.
ASUS DRW-2014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135169
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135162
I suggest any Western Digital or Hitachi IDE hard drive. You will need to look up the largest hard drive the BIOS can boot from. Linux can handle hard drives larger than the BIOS can boot from, but only after the kernel or Linux has been loaded in memory.
Just about any sound card can be used, the hard part is choosing which one. The following sound card should work in Linux.
SYBA SD-CM-PCI8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829186001
I do not like suggesting sound cards from Creative Labs because they have history of corrupting data.
Finding a PCI NIC or network card is easy, but I am not sure if you use dial-up or broadband for your internet. If you use broadband, the following network cards should work in Linux.
D-Link DFE-530TX+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127102
LINKSYS LNE100TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124107
If you use dial-up, use external modems that hooks up through a serial port.
I suggest a TEAC floppy disk drive for reliability.
If anybody gives me a case with a power supply, I question the quality of the power supply. I suggest changing it. The following is what I suggest.
SeaSonic S12 II SS-330GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151035
You will need to find IDE cable, floppy cable, PS/2 keyboard, PS/2 mouse, computer monitor, and a surge suppressor.
Collecting all the hardware to get a complete computer for an old motherboard is hard. Choosing a Linux distribution that is easy to install, easy to use, and easy to setup a ham radio is not easy. I suggest Gentoo, but it is a tedious install or not easy. I have not found a Linux distribution that uses today's programs that is easy to use, reliable, and easy to install. I have not done any steps to install Knoppix to make sure its installation process works from start to finish. Knoppix is a LIVE Linux distribution. This means it loads from a CD or DVD disc with out installing.