a more simple question?

[Tim Chase]

> if we just connect the network card to the new dsl modem
> and boot up the Linux box, will it load the drivers it may
> need for that hardware automatically?

In theory, it should already have drivers for your network
card and be configured to (1) notice that the network cable
has been plugged in, and (2) default to using DHCP to talk
to your router.

If not, there are additional diagnostics one can check to
ensure that you have a network card that Linux supports, and
that nobody configured the machine for a static IP address
in favor of a dynamic one.  If it uses wireless rather than
wired connections, that is a whole other mess.

-tim