New at this Linux stuff!

Yes, no, sort-of, maybe

It's not that simple. Essentially anything that runs on the N900 is a Linux program since it is a Linux computer. You certainly wouldn't be able to copy binary executables straight off a typical desktop Linux system onto the N900 since they have completely different processors, but you might be able to compile them from source code for the N900. That said, GUI applications often seem to have some degree of trouble with the N900's display and input system, odd version of GTK, and somewhat unusual window manager. That's not necessarily a fatal problem, but might mean that the source code needs some maemo specific alterations, rather than a simple rebuild.

Basically, it depends.

in order for a program to be able to run on N900, it needs to be compiled for it's processor. So unfortunately you can't take a binary which was compiled for X86 and run it on N900. But most Linux programs can be recompiled onto N900 with minimal changes. To do that, you'd need to install a scratchbox on a desktop which can recompile onto the N900 processor. See the development tab of this site for details.

Talking way above my head but thank you very much I will wait for the maemo group to develop great programs for this great machine. Do you know of any programs currently that would offer printing for this device via blue tooth or a usb cable?

Sure. You can download lots of stuff.

Download.