I forgot to specifically add that it is definitely worth it, especially if you know beforehand what your homebrew options are. However, you have to make a choice between current homebrew and xbox live. Linux is possible on the 360, but you must make absolutely sure you have the right box AND that you don't update it, else you lose the ability to at least try out homebrew before getting some live action on. All I'm sayin is that if you're really geeky, you'd wanna try linux, and then you'd want to have fun with it but prolly eventually give up and go for updating for live. For example, even if you don't get the 8 bucks a month gold membership, stuff like the crackdown free SP add-on they just added is only obtainable through a live connection, which you won't have with a later kernal version.
There's no really great homebrew reason for flashing the drive. It's only for backups right now. You've got linux, sure, but that comes at the cost of any 360 live options, which is a great reason to own the 360 for. Besides, linux is not optimized in any great way right now, and apparently is a waste of time with regards to computing power available. It's comparable to the PS3 linux, which unfortunately is not optimized for the cell yet, which means you don't get the awesome video encoding capabilities of the cell processor, yet its still kinda fun.
If you choose to mod the dvd drive in the 360, be sure you're ready for any dire consequences such as a bricked 360, especially even if you successfully mod the drive, later on if you have an unrelated 360 problem, you won't be able to send it back with any strong hope of them not noticing you modded it. Also, be sure you know what you're doing before you try to mod it.
