Partial answer: About linear indipendence, it is true that if $f$  is non constant then the dilations are linearly independent. In fact suppose  for a finite sum we have
\begin{equation}
\sum_{n=1}^{N} c_n f_n(x) = 0, \,\, a.e.-x,
\end{equation}
then the Fourier coefficients must vanish so we arrive at the equation 
\begin{equation}
 \sum_{n=1}^N \sum_{{ d \in \mathbb{N} \, : \, dn=m}} c_n \hat{f}(d) = 0, \forall m =1,2,3...
\end{equation}
and analogously for the negative Fourier coefficients. Let $$ d_0=\min\{d \in \mathbb{N}: \hat{f}(d)\neq 0 \} \quad n_0=\min\{ n\in\mathbb{N} : n\leq N, c_n \neq 0 \}. $$ 
Then we have that 
$$ \sum_{n=1}^N \sum_{{ d \in \mathbb{N} \, : \, dn=d_0 n_0}} c_n \hat{f}(d) = c_{n_0}\hat{f}(d_0) = 0  $$
which is a contradiction. 
The problem about total sets or a Schauder basis I expect to be much more complicated. In the article "A Hilbert space of Dirichlet series and systems of dilated functions in $L^2(0,1)$" of Hedenmalm, Lindqvist and Seip the authors give a characterization of the functions for which $f(nx)$ is a Riesz system (an isomorphic image of an orthonormal basis) for $p=2$.