to determine if they're being detected properly, use the 'lsusb' command.

Here's what they should look like if your system is detecting them properly (I run mine in a VM running Ubuntu:

$ sudo lsusb
[sudo] password for majorminer:
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0e0f:0003 VMware, Inc. Virtual Mouse
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0e0f:0002 VMware, Inc. Virtual USB Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0e0f:0008 VMware, Inc.
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x UART Bridge / myAVR mySmartUSB light
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x UART Bridge / myAVR mySmartUSB light
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x UART Bridge / myAVR mySmartUSB light
Bus 002 Device 008: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x UART Bridge / myAVR mySmartUSB light
Bus 002 Device 009: ID 10c4:ea60 Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc. CP210x UART Bridge / myAVR mySmartUSB light

Make sure they're detected by the miner by using sudo bfgminer -S all -d? -- I found this to be a lot better on linux than cgminer.

Then start your miner with sudo bfgminer -o $pool.goes.here -u $USER -p $PASSWORD -S all