Boot Messages

When linux boots there is a plethora of messages which really bugs me.

Can I have a simple message like "Welcome To Linux" when I boot into linux instead of those overwhelming messages (those telling me my processor type, HDD type etc...or the ones telling me that the startup services are ' [ OK ] ' )

Mail Server

Can I set up my own mail server ? In the PCQ's latest issue there are instructions on setting it in intranet. Can I set it up on my workstation ? Is there some site giving all the instructions Has someone among you tried it?

Linux and Multimedia

Yesterday I played a mpg file for the first time on linux and I was very disppointed by the performance . The file was almost played in slow motion :-(

Windows media player gave me a better performance.Guess Linux and multimedia don't go well together .

Kernel Comiplation

I am relatively new to linux and when I get some major problems I get atleast one suggestion to ' compile the kernel ' . What does it mean?

I only know C and Pascal programming . Can someone enlighten me please.