[newbie] Network what?

[Donny]

Hey all. Im running a small home network, and I have two questions hopefully someone could help me with. I have an NT server set up wit DHCP. How do I get linux onto the network? I think i have everything set up right, just I dont know how to use samba. Is there anyway to configure it using X?   Also, i was able to surf the net using netscape, by entering the IP of my NT server as a proxy. But I cant check my mail or anything because it cant find its connection the the net. On the NT machine im running WinGate, which sets up a proxy for SOCKS. I dont have any trouble with WIN98 or 2000.   Well, im a real newbie at networking, and linux (as u can probably tell), so thanks in advance to anyone that could help me out. Thanks!