Sound file compatibility and Linux

[Richmond Mathewson]

Nothing comes totally Free, and to play .swf files on my PCs in my school
comes at the price of upgrading my PCs to Ubuntu 8.04.2 LTS (a complete
pain); and, therefore losing the ability to handle mp3 files through Runtime
Revolution, and, therefore having to rewrite parts of stacks and standalones
that leverage external sound files (another pain), and convert those 
sound files
(hundreds consisting on single words or brief phrases) into a new format
(wow, even you should be feeling the pain by now).

Anyway, I've chosen my path, and . . .

Would be grateful for advice of the best sound format to use with RR 
2.2.1 and
Ubuntu.

sincerely, Richmond Mathewson.