To untar in Kde (by far the easiest way), just right click on the tar file and select "Extract Here".

This should create a new directory in the directory you're actually in. Let's imagine that it's in your /home directory and that the new directory is called /whatsit.

As yourself, do

cd /home/dutch_noob/whatsit

(or you can do this graphically in Kde)

find the readme file and open it. It'll give you the instructions. But normally the steps to build something are:

(cd to wherever the configure file is -- do this in a Konsole/Xterm)

do

./configure && make

then sue to root

and do

make install

(but proprietary drivers sometimes have wierd build methods!)

Let us know how you get on -- I'm off to watch Buffy!