And so my quest for a working desktop just took a step forward. I've got a pure KDE4 install by taking a commandline only ubuntu box, and aptituding my way to KDE4 + all the apps that I use (and none of the *buntu*-desktop bundles crap that I don't use). Seems to be working really well. There are some nice dark themes for KDE4 that work out of the box, and Phonon is simply awesome. I now have the sound from 'notifications' and the like going to the little speakers in my monitors via the Azalia card, leaving my M-Audio card for Jack to manage. The result?