Installing a USB ADSL modem in linux?

[Adar Dembo]

I'm running SuSE 6.4, with GCC 2.95.2, on an HP P3-800 computer. My
question (though I don't know if this is the appropriate mailing list),
is how to install my speedstream external USB modem in linux. The
auto-detect for modems didn't find it, and I heard that I need to
recompile the kernel, or something like that. I'm a linux newbie, and I
don't know much about kernel compilations, so I was wondering whether
there is an easier way? None of the setup tools provided in SuSE 6.4
worked, and I couldn't find any specific drivers on Alcatel's website.
Any other ideas?