There are several programs that make Linux easy to setup and configure. Some are becoming sort of standard: Red Hat, Caldera and other distributions ship with apps like setup, printtool, netcfg, usertool, etc, while S.u.S.E. ships with a comprehensive configuration program called Yast. Other useful programs are:
The Dotfile Generator: fine X app with modules to configure packages like emacs, bash, procmail and more. Its page is at http://www.imada.ou.dk/~blackie/dotfile;
Linuxconf: the ultimate configuration tool. It can do everything, both in console and under X. Go to http://www.solucorp.qc.ca/linuxconf at once.
Documents on Linux configuration are popping up everywhere. One of the most complete is TrinityOS, http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~dranch/LINUX/index-linux.html . Bug the author to have him turn the document in nicer formats.
A jolly good page is http://dotfiles.com. Just what it says - a collection of configuration files.