Thanks for the post. As you mentioned bitcoin is taken over by major companies and not worthwhile. Ethereum is great but newest version of Ubuntu doesn't support ATI graphics drivers so tough to follow your setup.
You mentioned Monero which is what I mine using Ubuntu. The payback is pretty good, no video drivers are needed if CPU mining, and the script is such that specialized USB miners are unlikely like they have for bitcoin.
Thanks for the post.
RE: Mining Bitcoin & Ethereum @ home: let the beast go!