Sorry to drag up old topic but waste not want not
![Smiley](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
If anyone new is having trouble getting clients running on Linux or FreeBSD (maybe windows) I would be happy to help.
Last week (my btc noobery) took me a few days to get mining on all the boxes and OS's I have access too.
Even running it on your dedicated web server may help get your feet wet.
If you need quick advice, IRC can be helpful: irc.freenode.net #bitcoin