recommendation for digital camera

[Faheem Mitha <faheem@email.unc.edu>]

Dear People,

I know this question has been asked before, but the answer is constantly
changing.:-)

So, I'm looking for a digital camera with the following (tentative)
requirements. I'm happy to have these requirements questioned.

1) A cost of $500 or under.

2) Needs to work well with Debian (obviously). I think the best support is
obtained by cameras that are seen as USB mass storage devices, right?

3) Preferably uses as little proprietary technology as possible. This may
not be a realistic requirement, though. I'm basically trying to avoid the
situation when I can only buy an accessory made by the company
manufactured by the camera because nothing else is compatible.

4) Something 4 Megapixel or over would be good, I think.

I'd also be interested in good internet resources about digital cameras,
particularly Linux specific.

Thanks in advance. Please CC me, I'm not subscribed.

                                                               Faheem.