I am interested in getting an older (serial interface would be ideal, but USB 1.0 would be fine too) GPS receiver for an old laptop that I have to assist in travel and exploration.
I've done some research on hardware and software, and found some great looking software sites:

http://roadmap.digitalomaha.net/index.html
http://gpsdrive.kraftvoll.at/

But I'm still very green on the heardware end...

I'm seeing some very inexpensive devices on Ebay, some in the 30 dollar range, which is just about ideal for me. The only problem is, I'm not sure what would be best for my needs, and what might simply not work with Linux....

Anyone know of a good primer on the web to teach the ins and outs of GPS devices, and which will work perfectly with Linux (and Ideally OpenBSD 3.5 as well!)?

Also, any folks out there that have owned and used specific hardware makes that they'd suggest as being perfect for Linux?

Thanks very much! I hope this can work since it would be a relatively cheap and interesting project!

Pretty much any GPS receiver that can transmit NMEA sentences over an RS-232 connection will work. It's the USB devices you have to watch out for - they usually depend on a built-in USB<->Serial convertor, so you'll have to do some research any you're looking at. Also keep in mind that a lot of the recent USB GPS receivers are rebranded offshore units, so you need to do some serious digging to see what the hardware is made up of.

...and I guess I could add a whack of GPS kit to the HCL.

Oh... and GPSDrive rocks!