Orinoco Gold under Agere Systems?

I am a newb in this particular linux forum. I am currently running knoppix on my older compaq laptop via ethernet connection. I took the step foward in going wireless and bought a wireless card. I would have asked you guys before buying it but it was almost over by the time i got to the auction on ebay.

I was hoping soemone could tell me if this is a particularly good wireless card for linux. I have heard great things about the orinoco gold, but i am confused as to who they are manufactured by. How many times has this changed?

this was the description in the auction i got it from: Orinoco famous WiFi Gold PCMCIA card. Manufactured by Agere Systems. Works with 802.11b wireless networks. Capable of 128RC4 encryption. P/N is 024205/B. Original installation CD and manual included.

The card is purple BTW. it seems like they changed colors over the years, if thats of any help identifying it to anyone.

any help would be appreciated, and sorry for the newb questions!!

Pop the card into your machine and pray for the best, you never know, it just might work. If not, then issue this command in a terminal window to identify your chipset.
sudo /sbin/lspci
Post that back here for more help