Most generic USB audio devices work just fine in Linux - Just look to see if it says that drivers are required for current Windows builds. If not, it probably works just fine in Linux too. That said, I've always found it far easier to work with devices that use my PC's front 1/8th inch audio jacks tend to be far easier to work with, especially when faced with applications that are more poorly written than Skype & Ekiga and don't, on the application-level, allow you to select the audio device you're going to use. I personally use and swear by my Sennheiser PC151 headset (~$25-45), and can vouch for it being perfectly comfortable to use eight hours a day, five days a week. Headsets like this beat the hell out of all the phone-like wifi Skype devices and USB faux-phone speaker/microphone combinations.

If you're dead set on having a separate USB device to jack it into, pick up a nice USB sound card to plug it into or pay an extra $15-20 and pick up the version of the PC1** series headsets with a USB adapter included.

Sean Crago Kathmandu