[Newbie questions] how to use journal/ledger system, gnucash-1.4.1 + SuSE

[root]

Developers,

	I am a gnucash newbie, but have been searching a long time for
a usable strict double-entry system.

	I recently rpm'd gnucash-1.4.1, slib, and g-wrap for use with
SuSE 6.3.  (As I am not an rpm-guru, beta-testers would be appreciated.)
I have read all the documentation that I can find at http://www.gnucash.org/
and in the .tar.gz package, but I feel that I am missing either a basic
concept or a large body of documentation and ancillary code.

        From the mail list archive, I believe that some are using gnucash
to implement a web-based journal/ledger system, but I don't understand how
this is being done.

        How are multiple journals setup and distinguished?
	        (e.g. cash, checking, ...)

        How does one export .xac files to some other format?
	        (e.g. .xac -> .qif)

        How does one merge .xac files?
	        (e.g. accounts.xac + cash_journal.xac -> new_accounts.xac)

        Is there a site for gnucash contributions?
	        (additional reports, additional docs, etc.)
		(e.g. ftp://www.gnucash.org/pub/gnucash/contrib/)

	How does one access from gnucash through a web server?
		(e.g. http://localhost/cgi-bin/gnucash?)

	How does one automatically split transactions?
	        (e.g. > GNC_RUN_AS_SHELL=t gnucash <<Cookie
		      > (gnc:post ...)
		      > Cookie

Thank you in advance for your patience with a newbie,

Bob