"find a tech that specializes in Mac and Linux. They are very similar"

OS9 and later are largely UNIX based.

"Is there a Linux equivalent of f-disk?"
There are several, especially if you have a working system and have loaded several :) ... parted is often found on those free 'linux rescue disks' - a basic Linux boot and LOTS of 'repair utilities, far superior to Windows.

You can have hassles as windows does not like Linux and will fight you trying to do a dual install - I don't have time to give help on this atm - you have to do it in the right order and make sure you have passwords, and preferably a backup of your system before you go play... Linux will usually install 'over' Win with far less hassle than trying it the other way round. I had days of frustration of trying to compress the unused Win space to allow a dual boot on the laptop - it had spattered unmovable hidden shit all over the disk, and only when I found a trial version of something very expensive for windows, would it unclench it's claws and let me shrink the partition...

Windows/Linux debate are largely Political/Religious - they are 'belief based'... there is something Byte magazine called 'the little yellow baby duck syndrome' (referring to text editors) - you imprint on the first thing you see and judge everything else you later see by that...