Major software sites to look at are:
<A HREF="http://www.freshmeat.net" target="_new">http://www.freshmeat.net</A>
<A HREF="http://www.sourceforge.net" target="_new">http://www.sourceforge.net</A>
<A HREF="http://www.linux.org" target="_new">http://www.linux.org</A> under the <A HREF="http://www.linux.org/apps/index.html" target="_new">applications</A> link
<A HREF="http://www.gnome.org" target="_new">http://www.gnome.org</A> under the <A HREF="http://www.gnome.org/softwaremap" target="_new">get more software</A> link
<A HREF="http://www.kde.org" target="_new">http://www.kde.org</A> / <A HREF="http://apps.kde.com" target="_new">http://apps.kde.com</A>
<A HREF="http://www.google.com" target="_new">www.google.com</A> 🙂
For hardware compatibility, use the RedHat/Mandrake/etc HCL's that are available online. You may have to use google, as some of the newer drivers can be hard to find. Most regular x86 hardware works fine.
<i>Giggling nervously in the face of oncoming traffic -- PB</i>