[LAU] Migrating to Linux - need help

Hello guys, peace and music to all of you. Here's my story: I won a laptop some months ago, and with the Windows 7's arrival I decided to try a Linux distro, more precisely Ubuntu, for its facility and also, for the Gnome's accessibility from the CD boot to the final instalation, which is an enormous advantage for us blind users, when we want to setup a computer independently. I use computer for ten years and it's good to see Linux and Apple's developers going towards facilities to everybody... I've mentioned Apple because seems that Apple's Voiceover can also be accessed even during the instalation according to an article I've read on the web. Anyway, I've tested Ubuntu 9.10 and it wasn't that good because it had some audio issues including with the Orca's usage, so I decided to wait, and soon came Ubuntu 10.04 and, for the moment, it took all the chances of Windows getting wrapped into my laptop. Besides, with a few, very few programs I can do all the things I need to do... Of course things may change in the future, but it's good to work in a system so light, secure, and it's even better to find a supportive comunity. Last saturday I decided to move my desktop computer, an Athlon X2 4000, Asus M2N-SLI, 2GB of RAM with two hard disks, to Ubuntu 10.04.1 64bits version. I really got amazed with the performance, even the Orca screen reader is more responsive with the 64bits version. I'm interested in audio production using Linux, so I need clues. I have two audio cards, the mother board's built-in and the Delta Audiophile 2496, the ladder one detected as card 0, wich according to my understanding is the default card. But I was unable to get output from the Delta, so I had to select the built-in sound card as my default output for the moment. Then, after further reading I could install jackd and Ardour for a test, and with Ardour I get all the feedback I need while playing sounds through Delta. But of course, my goall is to make the system work fully with the Delta. What should I do to build a stable audio set using Ubuntu? And of course, what are the must have programs? Since Orca is GTK-based, I'd prefer to stay far from KDE due to accessibility issues. The thing I've loved about Ardour is that I'm able to control jack without having to access the jack GUI, which is KDE. But of course, if I can adjust settings by editing configuration files it'll be better. Any tips on how to make things work decently will be very appreciated. Sorry for some obvious questions that I might have asked, and sorry for the book. Thanks in advance for all the input. Warm regards from São Paulo, Brazil. Edu Camargo.