user491: Ok. I don't care if I make only a small amount of bitcoins mining. I want to mine.
How do I setup my machine (amd x64 4.6Ghz 6GB/RAM with GeForce Nvidia 7300, LinuxMint 10) to start mining?
Is it damn simple, or it's a damn-high-geek-setup?
Can I set up to use both CPU and GPU?
How much should I expect in this simple system per month with my machine on all time?

user10285: If you are after bitcoins I wouldn't even spend time on CPU or GPU. It is now difficult with specialized hardware (butterfly labs, kncminer ... ). You can have a look at cloud mining (cexio) as well it is expensive and you have to have bitcoins already but you can buy and sell GH/s and you can actually make more from trading than mining.  

user13963: There are several options for Mining Bitcoins some of these are no longer profitable, but for the sake of being thorough here they are in order of efficiency lowest to highest:
Methods

CPU Mining (minerd)
GPU Mining (cgminer, bfgminer)
FPGA Mining (Custom software - https://github.com/fpgaminer/Open-Source-FPGA-Bitcoin-Miner)
ASIC Mining (cgminer, bfgminer, also some custom software that ships with various ASIC's)

Currently the most efficient method is to use ASIC miners as with the difficulty always increasing, it becomes harder and harder to gain returns on lower spec hardware.
Some Example Hardware Setups

GPU - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig
Hardware Comparison - https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig
ASIS's:
-- Avalon - http://avalon-asics.com/ 
-- Bit Fury - http://www.bitfurystrikesback.com/
-- KNC - https://www.kncminer.com/
-- CoinTerra - http://cointerra.com/
-- Butterfly Labs - http://www.butterflylabs.com/

Most ASICS work out the box and have built in web interfaces to control and monitor the   hashing of the device, where as other forms of mining normally require a bit getting down and dirty in the command line.  Also as its mostly ineffective to mine in any other way this is generally the way most people choose to go although there is normally a high barrier to entry due to the high cost of entry e.g. the new Cointerra TerraMiner can achieve 2TH/s and is priced at USD $5,999 making it an expensive device to purchase.
Monitoring
When mining you want to ensure maximum possible up time as whenever you have hardware not hashing you are loosing money, So its pretty important to setup some kind of monitoring for your devices.  Some mining software comes with this built in however there are also some other options out there.

CGWatcher - http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgwatcher.html
CGRemote (Donation Only) - http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgremote.html
Miner.php (cgminer builtin) -https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer/blob/master/miner.php
MinePeon (Dedicated Mining OS with Web Interface) - http://mineforeman.com/minepeon/
Anubis (CGMiner Web Front End) - https://github.com/pshep/ANUBIS

Pools / Stratum Proxy
The Final piece in the puzzle is the pool, now obviously you can choose one of the many pools already out there or you can run your own pool.  Running your own pool can be a daunting task for beginners, but it is well worthwhile with the knowledge you learn while building and maintaining it.
Build Your Own Pool: 

P2Pool
-- https://p2pool.org/‎
-- https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/P2Pool
-- https://github.com/forrestv/p2pool
-- Complete P2Pool setup Guide (MERGED MINING) - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62842.0
-- Maximizing P2Pool Efficency -  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=153232.0
-Eloi Pool
-- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=158105.0
-- https://github.com/ZeroASIC/eloipool-server
Stratum Proxy - http://mining.bitcoin.cz/mining-proxy-howto

Some of My Favorite Pools

https://www.multipool.us/ -  Automatically Mines the most profitable SHA-256 and or scrypt coin.
https://ghash.io/ - This is the mining pool backend for cex.io and they offer merged mining with Namecoin, Devcoin, Ixcoin
https://hashco.ws/ - Like multipool but offer ability to recieve all payout in BTC

I Hope this very brief overview of mining helps you get started :)

user5: Please check this question first:
How much Bitcoin will I mine right now with hardware X?
Before you go through all this work, it is important to know what to expect from your hardware.

There are two options: solo mining or pool mining. Unless you have a lot of computing power (several ASICs), you should probably mine at a pool.
So the first thing to do is to sign up at a bitcoin pool. The stickies in this bitcointalk section have links for the top 10 pools. The main differences between them are the payout models and the fees. If you just want to try things out, choose one of the most popular pools like Deepbit or BTC Guild. You can then try others, according to your needs.
Now you need to install a miner. It has a simple interface, a drop down menu with a list of pre-configured pools and it is not difficult to setup.
After you install the miner, you need to point it towards your pool. So select device you want to mine with (probably your FPGA/ASIC), enter the pool URL (if you don't know what it is, check the FAQ/help section of your pool's website) and your username/password.
That's it. You can now see your progress at the pool's website.
Useful links:

What is a Mining Pool, what is it good for?
Is CPU mining even worth it?
What is a good mining pool/payout model for infrequent mining?


In your specific case, you have no ASICs or FPGAs, so you will earn less than a penny of Bitcoin.

491: <p>Ok. I don't care if I make only a small amount of bitcoins mining. I want to mine.</p>

<p>How do I setup my machine (amd x64 4.6Ghz 6GB/RAM with GeForce Nvidia 7300, LinuxMint 10) to start mining?</p>

<p>Is it damn simple, or it's a damn-high-geek-setup?</p>

<p>Can I set up to use both CPU and GPU?</p>

<p>How much should I expect in this simple system per month with my machine on all time?</p>
 10285: <p>If you are after bitcoins I wouldn't even spend time on CPU or GPU. It is now difficult with specialized hardware (butterfly labs, kncminer ... ). You can have a look at cloud mining (<a href="https://cex.io/r/1/giagola/0/" rel="nofollow">cexio</a>) as well it is expensive and you have to have bitcoins already but you can buy and sell GH/s and you can actually make more from trading than mining.  </p>
 13963: <p>There are several options for Mining Bitcoins some of these are no longer profitable, but for the sake of being thorough here they are in order of efficiency lowest to highest:</p>

<p><strong>Methods</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>CPU Mining (minerd)</li>
<li>GPU Mining (cgminer, bfgminer)</li>
<li>FPGA Mining (Custom software - <a href="https://github.com/fpgaminer/Open-Source-FPGA-Bitcoin-Miner" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/fpgaminer/Open-Source-FPGA-Bitcoin-Miner</a>)</li>
<li>ASIC Mining (cgminer, bfgminer, also some custom software that ships with various ASIC's)</li>
</ul>

<p>Currently the most efficient method is to use ASIC miners as with the difficulty always increasing, it becomes harder and harder to gain returns on lower spec hardware.</p>

<p><strong>Some Example Hardware Setups</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>GPU - <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig" rel="noreferrer">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig</a></li>
<li>Hardware Comparison - <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig" rel="noreferrer">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig</a></li>
<li><p>ASIS's:</p>

<p>-- Avalon - <a href="http://avalon-asics.com/" rel="noreferrer">http://avalon-asics.com/</a> </p>

<p>-- Bit Fury - <a href="http://www.bitfurystrikesback.com/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.bitfurystrikesback.com/</a></p>

<p>-- KNC - <a href="https://www.kncminer.com/" rel="noreferrer">https://www.kncminer.com/</a></p>

<p>-- CoinTerra - <a href="http://cointerra.com/" rel="noreferrer">http://cointerra.com/</a></p>

<p>-- Butterfly Labs - <a href="http://www.butterflylabs.com/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.butterflylabs.com/</a></p></li>
</ul>

<p>Most ASICS work out the box and have built in web interfaces to control and monitor the   hashing of the device, where as other forms of mining normally require a bit getting down and dirty in the command line.  Also as its mostly ineffective to mine in any other way this is generally the way most people choose to go although there is normally a high barrier to entry due to the high cost of entry e.g. the new Cointerra TerraMiner can achieve 2TH/s and is priced at USD $5,999 making it an expensive device to purchase.</p>

<p><strong>Monitoring</strong></p>

<p>When mining you want to ensure maximum possible up time as whenever you have hardware not hashing you are loosing money, So its pretty important to setup some kind of monitoring for your devices.  Some mining software comes with this built in however there are also some other options out there.</p>

<ul>
<li>CGWatcher - <a href="http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgwatcher.html" rel="noreferrer">http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgwatcher.html</a></li>
<li>CGRemote (Donation Only) - <a href="http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgremote.html" rel="noreferrer">http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/p/cgremote.html</a></li>
<li>Miner.php (cgminer builtin) -<a href="https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer/blob/master/miner.php" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer/blob/master/miner.php</a></li>
<li>MinePeon (Dedicated Mining OS with Web Interface) - <a href="http://mineforeman.com/minepeon/" rel="noreferrer">http://mineforeman.com/minepeon/</a></li>
<li>Anubis (CGMiner Web Front End) - <a href="https://github.com/pshep/ANUBIS" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/pshep/ANUBIS</a></li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Pools / Stratum Proxy</strong></p>

<p>The Final piece in the puzzle is the pool, now obviously you can choose one of the many pools already out there or you can run your own pool.  Running your own pool can be a daunting task for beginners, but it is well worthwhile with the knowledge you learn while building and maintaining it.</p>

<p><em><strong>Build Your Own Pool:</em></strong> </p>

<ul>
<li><p>P2Pool</p>

<p>-- <a href="https://p2pool.org/" rel="noreferrer">https://p2pool.org/</a>‎</p>

<p>-- <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/P2Pool" rel="noreferrer">https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/P2Pool</a></p>

<p>-- <a href="https://github.com/forrestv/p2pool" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/forrestv/p2pool</a></p>

<p>-- Complete P2Pool setup Guide (MERGED MINING) - <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62842.0" rel="noreferrer">https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62842.0</a></p>

<p>-- Maximizing P2Pool Efficency -  <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=153232.0" rel="noreferrer">https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=153232.0</a></p></li>
<li><p>-Eloi Pool</p>

<p>-- <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=158105.0" rel="noreferrer">https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=158105.0</a></p>

<p>-- <a href="https://github.com/ZeroASIC/eloipool-server" rel="noreferrer">https://github.com/ZeroASIC/eloipool-server</a></p></li>
<li><p>Stratum Proxy - <a href="http://mining.bitcoin.cz/mining-proxy-howto" rel="noreferrer">http://mining.bitcoin.cz/mining-proxy-howto</a></p></li>
</ul>

<h2>Some of My Favorite Pools</h2>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.multipool.us/" rel="noreferrer">https://www.multipool.us/</a> -  Automatically Mines the most profitable SHA-256 and or scrypt coin.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://ghash.io/" rel="noreferrer">https://ghash.io/</a> - This is the mining pool backend for cex.io and they offer merged mining with Namecoin, Devcoin, Ixcoin</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://hashco.ws/" rel="noreferrer">https://hashco.ws/</a> - Like multipool but offer ability to recieve all payout in BTC</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I Hope this very brief overview of mining helps you get started :)</p>
 5: <p><strong>Please check this question first</strong>:<br>
<a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/118/how-much-bitcoin-will-i-mine-right-now-with-hardware-x">How much Bitcoin will I mine right now with hardware X?</a></p>

<p>Before you go through all this work, it is important to know what to expect from your hardware.</p>

<hr>

<p>There are two options: solo mining or pool mining. Unless you have <strong>a lot</strong> of computing power (several ASICs), you should probably mine at a pool.</p>

<p>So the first thing to do is to sign up at a bitcoin pool. The stickies in <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=41.0" rel="noreferrer">this</a> bitcointalk section have links for the top 10 pools. The main differences between them are the payout models and the fees. If you just want to try things out, choose one of the most popular pools like <a href="https://deepbit.net/" rel="noreferrer">Deepbit</a> or <a href="http://www.btcguild.com/" rel="noreferrer">BTC Guild</a>. You can then try others, according to your needs.</p>

<p>Now you need to install a miner. It has a simple interface, a drop down menu with a list of pre-configured pools and it is not difficult to setup.</p>

<p>After you install the miner, you need to point it towards your pool. So select device you want to mine with (probably your FPGA/ASIC), enter the pool URL (if you don't know what it is, check the FAQ/help section of your pool's website) and your username/password.</p>

<p>That's it. You can now see your progress at the pool's website.</p>

<p>Useful links:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/127/what-is-a-mining-pool-what-is-it-good-for">What is a Mining Pool, what is it good for?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/59/is-cpu-mining-even-worth-it">Is CPU mining even worth it?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/370/what-is-a-good-mining-pool-payout-model-for-infrequent-mining">What is a good mining pool/payout model for infrequent mining?</a></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>In your specific case, you have no ASICs or FPGAs, so you will earn less than a penny of Bitcoin.</p>
