Nzr0 just saved you a lot of headache, do this stuff. And write that shit down because you will forget all of it next time you get an itch to play defrag :P
Give racesow (the real race mod for Warsow, not the race gametype it comes with - all online race servers are racesow) a try, too. It's a similar but different type of movement, a lot faster than Quake (not necessarily a good or bad thing), and a lot of fun too. All the classic defrag maps like coldrun etc are playable and on the servers and there are a bunch of Warsow-only classics as well. Warsow itself might not be all that fun, but racesow is.
who knows if you'll find a ted, but it helps to have someone to chill with on mumble and explain things vs spending hours doing stuff on your own and becoming frustrated
I saw this cause defrag can be really frustrating, but yeah I'm sure you'll find people to help!
Use the pro installer as it includes very helpful defrag specific cfgs. If you run into any problems just ask in the q3df forums or connect to #defrag on IRC. The DF community is very friendly and helpful. If you need help in game just ask someone for tips and they'll spectate you and help you out. Good luck.
watch some defrag videos, install the game, download some cool looking maps. fail getting past the first obstacle for about 20 minutes and then kill yourself