There are lots of good tools for linux for encoding MP3s, the problem is, they are unix tools, they do one thing, and they do it well. There are good encoders, good cd rippers, cddb lookup tools, ID3 editors, the problem is, it is a PITA to use them all seperatly. This is were abcde comes in. abcde(A Better CD Encoder) is a very usefull script written by Robert Woodcock that automates the proccess of ripping, encoding, and cataloging mp3s using command line tools. It supports multiple rippers, multiple encoders(for both MP3 and ogg), several ID3 tools, and lots of customization for filenames.
I have it setup to use cdparanoia to rip, and lame to encode. here is my ~/.abcde.conf file:

OUTPUTFORMAT='${ARTISTFILE}/${ALBUMFILE}/${TRACKNUM}-${TRACKFILE}.${OUTPUTTYPE}'CDROM=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0
OUTPUTTYPE=mp3
VAOUTPUTFORMAT='${ALBUM}/${TRACKNUM}-${TRACKFILE}.${OUTPUTTYPE}'
MAXPROCS=2
EJECTCD=y
ENCODERSYNTAX=lame
LAMEOPTS="-h -b256"
CDROMREADERSYNTAX=cdparanoia
#OUTPUTDIR=/mp3
mungefilename ()
{
 echo "$@" | sed s,:,\ -,g | tr \ / __ | tr -d \'\? | tr -d \[:cntrl:\]|tr \[:upper:\] \[:lower:\]
}