Well, that's what we're here for, buddy. I ran thru the
instructions again, and yes, the patch and the lirc version were at a mismatch. The old patch was for lirc0.7.0pre7 which did not patch cleanly against 0.7.1 (as instructed to download). The patching now works fine against 0.7.1 and, yes, it's a bummer that it's not the newest version.
I (and many others) have been using the usb-uirt under linux without issues. I've tried several of the serial ir transmitters without luck... perhaps you'll be fortunate. I'd try the download and patch procedure again (with the 0.7.1 patch). It should work fine. If not, spew here.
Welcome to the world of linux, where most whose using it successfully are blissfully quiet and most that fails move away frustrated before even asking for help. Keep on keeping on, and ask for help. You want to see it in the newest version: send in a patch against it, or send a nice message with the patch and version to the lirc mailing list.