> Man, is this Ubuntu thing worth all this trouble?
Short answer: no.
However...
I've used every major Linux distribution you can name since, well, since there were only 2 of them. Ubuntu is geared toward ease of use for end users, who almost never use static IP addresses. Chuck has been getting advice from people(including me) who are using much newer and different versions of the distribution. These versions differ *widely* as the years go on, so that's a lot of the "trouble" we're seeing here. :)
-- In Solidarity, Billy O'Connor