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Hmmm, designers on Linux?
I always thought it went like this:
Linux = developers
Mac = designers
Windows = users

As a Web-Designer you need to have access to Internet Explorer, like it or not.
You wouldn't need Adobe, though.

IE is easy to install in WINE or some sort of virtual machine.

I'm a Linux user (Fedora 7) and a heavy Adobe user. I've been using Illustrator since V1 back in 1988 in high school and Photoshop since v3 (1995?). I got in to PHP/MySQL programming around 1999 and just recently Linux. I won't switch back to Windows. I can't justify the price of a Mac when Linux is just as good and more cost-effective.

I have VMWare with an installation of XP running. I have a Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 installed in my virtual XP. While running those Adobe apps natively would rock, they work pretty well and are very usable running in an OS under another OS.

Sidenote: I have been messing around with The Gimp and Inkscape lately and been very impressed! I suspect in about a year or so, I'll be away from the Adobe applications and just use those open source alternatives.

I'm also a linux user but, I think worrying about the cost of a computer when compared to the cost of development is not the best strategy.
For example, if a designer is pulling in around 100K, and spending a few hundred bucks more on a computer/applications would increase efficiency by a few percentage points, then the money spent is recovered in no time, and contributes a net benefit after that.