[plug] comparing external hard disk - usb2 vs firewire with linux

[Daniel]

Hello Plug,
it seems that firewire has been supported for some time and that usb2
will be supported in the newer kernels.  

I wonder if there are any great differences between the way they operate
and their capabilities.(eg hot swappable / actual throughput /
reliability etc.)  While usb2 should (we hope) be backward compatable
with usb1.1 ports found on many computers, firewire would require an add
on card, but I was told it was designed specifically with hard disk
operation in mind and you could even daisy chain them without affecting
the throughput ...[once booted])

Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Daniel.