[PlanetCCRMA] serial port midi devices

[dougall irving]

I recently purchased a laptop on ebay and I have it running the planet's
kernel, alsa drivers and a few of the apps and things.  I am interested in
making a serial port midi interface  along the lines of
http://www.maxmidi.com/diy/serial/index.html.  The reason I am going for a
serial port interface is that the usb midi interfaes quote quite high specs
for CPU requirements, as well as being quite expensive.  Has anyone on this
list had any success with diy serial port interfaces under linux?  I
understand there is a snd-card-serial alsa module designed for this.  Anyone
thoughs, experience etc. would be greatly apprieciated.

regards
dougalli