MIDI under Linux?

I've got a couple of MIDI-capable keyboards, and I've got a laptop
running LINUX.  I've got a joystick adapter and a MIDI cable with a
joystick plug.  But I'm at sea when it comes to the software end of
things.  How would I go about getting this to work?  What software
would I use, and how would I set it up?

And of course I'd like to be able to talk to the keyboards with
Perl...

--Bill.

-- 
William R Ward            [email protected]          http://www.wards.net/~bill/
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     If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.