I installed Mach and the xml from the vendor and was up and running in less than an hour
If your hardware matches one of the included configurations should not even take that long to get going with LinuxCNC now that you have some experience.
If you need to create a new configuration and you know your settings from Mach, such as parallel port pin numbers, driver information, speed, acceleration, machine size, etc. run Stepconf and you can be up and running in no time.
Be sure to read the getting started section.
Rick G