My intent is more academic than practical. and the "look what I can do" factor. haha.
I am using the default sheevaplug distro of ubuntu.
What exactly is a pool? Is it just multiple machines mining for the same owners address?
Yes, and when a machine finds a block the 50BTC is distributed among the machines that submitted work. Overall the payout's the same, but in a pool you get payment over time instead of the 50BTC you'd get every time you find a block.