I think there is already a "live" installer distro around, but I would wait a little longer for a ideneb or iatkos distro. 10.6.2 is around the corner with lots of core updates, so that will certainly make a lot of people nervous about updating. They should be poping up soon enough. Otherwise, I dont recommend you doing it until you're more acquainted with how the system is built up. In your case, that will really be quick as OSx is based in Darwin, which is younger cousin to linux.
I hope soon I'll have some time to update the SL tutorial with some new stuff. But basically been running SL rock solid for 3 - 4 weeks. No mic in, no vga out, but 2 finger scroll makes up for that, its awsome. Will be attempting to fix the finer details in the following months. Am in no hurry as I want to do it right, but some stuff shouldn't be that troublesome. No sleep (dont use it anyway), e-sata working perfect, ethernet too, webcam, bluetooth, usb's. Haven't tested HDMI, it should be working as it shows up in system profiler (external monitor, but since vga doesnt work, must be HDMI). Oh yeah, full QE/CI, haven't benchamarkd yet but played a couple of hours of Toca 3 last night, all high, ultra smooth. Haven't bothered with SD cards, rarely use them. Had some issues with some kexts so I just gave that up.
My mbox2 work really well, so if you need audio in until you patch dsdt or new voodooHDA, you get a cheap compatible usb audio card. Many around.
Did I leave anything out?
Jimmy, you said you are linux ninja? That is great because with proper DSDT patching, it makes basically any hardware fully supported with "vanilla" systems, including sleep or bonjour or any other detail. And from the little I know about it, if you create an EFI partition containing Chameleon in it, you achieve a 100% software update proof Mac clone! That means popping in a retail DVD anytime in the future with no extra tweaking!
I am halfway down the dsdt lane, but my linux skills pull me down. If you'd like to take on a slowly paced hobby, in a very short time we can make a method to make our laptops perfect clones.
What do you think?
