With almost no Linux background I have managed to use the Sheevaplug in a tide gauge system.  The web site can be viewed at http://summersea.dyndns.org

If there is any interest I will consider writing a wiki.  The components include:

Sheevaplug with alpha-6
Maxbotix WR1 MB7040 ultrasonic range finder - http://www.maxbotix.com/MB7060__XL-MaxSonar-WR1.html
USB to Serial Adapter - http://serialio.com/products/adaptors/usb_serial.php
16 GB SDHC card (bigger than needed)
Thermd software - http://www.klein.com/thermd/ with required CPAN perl modules that were installed using a trial-and-error combination of apt-get and CPAN
lighttpd (I broke apache2 cgi somehow and could not get it to work)
postfix

Wireless - possibly zigbee with remote sensor sleep circuitry and solar power would be a nice add-on but I am not sure I am ready to take that step.  Thermd is a great piece of software that can be used to measure all sorts of environmental conditions.

Whew!  The alpha-6 update seemed to work and I now see /dev/ttyUSB0 when I plug in my USB to serial adapter.  Need to do further testing but thank you for the advice.

Thanks for the tip.  I guess I need to take the leap.

I am running the updated jaunty linux and using a serialio usb to serial convertor http://serialio.com/products/adaptors/usb_serial.php

If I run lsusb I get:

root@debian:/# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

When I run usbserial I get

root@debian:/# sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x067b product=0x2303
FATAL: Could not load /lib/modules/2.6.22.18/modules.dep: No such file or directory

I seems I do not have the required files.  Any idea what they are and where I can find them?

Ubuntu noob.

Can anyone recommend a current USB to RS-232 serial port adapter that works with the SheevaPlug Ubuntu distribution that I can order online?

Thanks for your help.