Ics Gateway

[Xanex]

Hi

few questions

i have a home network. there is one machine that has the adsl connected to it. and i connect to it to connect to the internet.

1) i have read that i can use gateway for ICS can be used to turn it on and off, but i dont see it in the network settings thing, (this is more of a statement of fact rather than a question), the server pc runs debian linux. am i right in saying that this xp gateway thing is for windows only machines?

2) i did a freshinstall of xp the other week and installed icq like i always do, i was able to send and recieve files over icq, then suddenly it stopped working. i didnt reboot my machine nor did the server reboot, i did not install anything nor didi i change anything, in fact ,my mate (server) left our machines running and went down the pub. when i got back, left him there, i was unable to send or recieve over icq. Y would this b?

any suggestions on how to restore this function???