> I'm curious if anyone knows of a `nicer' way to do this.  I've heard that
> ACPI (a successor of sorts to APM) should allow for this, but from what
> I've heard, ACPI is fairly unsupported in Linux these days..  It'd be cool
> if it was automatic


Someday this will be supported by the linux hotplug scripts: 
http://linux-hotplug.sourceforge.net/

I just apt-got the hotplug RPM and my redhat box started hotplugging USB 
drivers. Yay, no more manual modprobing or having drivers constantly 
loaded from rc.local.

Now to write a script to detect when I've plugged my USB digicam in, 
automatically unload all the pictures, and upload them to the webserver...