I got a lot of help from Tony's Voladj for Dummies. It's got instructions on how to modify the init on the PC side and send it to empeg. He recommends UltraEdit, and after trying (and buying) it, I wholehartedly agree.
As for Linux resources, I'd say go to Barnes&Noble/Amazon/whatever, buy a "Starting Linux" book that comes with a distribution CD (Red Hat Linux is a good distro to start with). Install it on a small Partition on your PC, and play around with it. Within weeks, you'll be an expert in navigating around and using cmd-line commands.
There are also plenty of websites about learning Linux. Just don't be afraid to get your feet wet.
Jason

_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."