can someone tell me how to install half-life 2 on mandrake linux 10, ive read about winex and cedega but im too stupid to realise what to do is there any step-by-step guide to installing half-life 2 on linux anywhere?

You need this commercial program called cedega.

You need to purchase it ($5 a month for continued support/updates) at http://www.transgaming.com

After you download Cedega, you install it. they have it in source format (compile yourself), RPM (auto install package), or in .DEB format (for debian users).

After you have downloaded and installed Cedega, you pop in your Half-Life 2 CD's (or DVD) and type something like:

cedega /mnt/dvd/setup.exe

It will then run as if you ran the setup file in Windows. HL2 IS playable under Cedega, especially with nVidia Cards. ATI cards are not so great with Cedega, unfortunately.

is there any other way its just i have no money and even if i did i couldn't pay cause i have no credit card.

You could try getting Cedega from CVS and compiling it yourself. See here for help.

Google for cedega downloads, and there are sites that actually host the downloads, and they are free too. I find that really interesting how some sites get away with this.

You shouldn't really help promote this

That's true, and thanks for linking to any of those sites.

Cedega can be obtained for $5 or via CVS - both methods are well documented. You could also try Wine, many people have had success using that with games. And it's available for no cost.