apache on b&w g3

[mzllr]

i've just installed ydl 2.3 on a blue & white g3 in the hopes of using it as a personal web server. this is my first foray into linux and i'm running into initial problems. i purchased a book on apache web admin, but it assumes a certain level of knowledge already (it says "...now start apache..." but doesn't tell you how). i was wondering if anyone else has gone through this process while learning linux and apache and if there are any resources on the web geared towards complete newbies that anyone knows about.

thanks for the help