Quote:
no ssh access, can't hack it without soldering in a serial port and doing some serious voodoo.

You don't need to do the serial port mod any more. You can create a custom firmware image to give you SSH access.

Quote:
the tech support guys I talked to weren't real friendly (I was going to say they were dicks but I figured that'd be kinda harsh).

They're a bit crap on GPL compliance and their technical staff are really bad about it. If you want the GPL source then you have to send them $20 and a SAE. You get a CD back with the tarballs that are requires to build the specified version. New version? Another $20.

Quote:
The drives are a PITA to replace (definitely not hot swappable due to the sheer amount of disassembly required).

Yeah. It's a bit annoying but it's not too bad. Just tedious to do all the little screws.

Quote:
runs linux (always a bonus). Even though it's a crippled, unaccessible and feature deficient install of linux.

You can get the source tarball and build another kernel but it's a bit risky to change. The bootloader doesn't seem to be that easy to use and there is only one kernel stored in the flash so if you screw it up then it's a PITA to fix. You'll need a JTAG adapter if so.