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First of all, I think you may mean that you've installed Ubuntu 12.10, not ROS 12.10. So you're running Ubuntu 12.10 with ROSGroovy. Good, we've established the system. You'll likely want the gaming version of the Kinect, not the Windows SDK version. You'll want to look on the ROS website at openni_camera and openni_launch:

http://wiki.ros.org/openni_camera

http://wiki.ros.org/openni_launch

The second link has some tutorials listed which should help get you started on understanding the interaction between ROS and the Kinect. What you're talking about is a little advanced, so work on learning how to launch the kinect and access the video feeds first before you move onto mapping. I just started using Linux and doing this in September, and my best piece of advice is that you're going to have to google a lot to find out specifically what you want. The answers you need are hidden in little nooks and crannies around the internet. Google "octomapping" since that's what I think you're talking about.

Good luck!