About a week ago there was a thread about the wii getting hacked in wiimode using zelda. Could this lead to linux on the wii.

Depends on what you mean by "run".

You can always wipe the firmware and replace with with a PowerPC Linux kernel and subsystems, but it won't play games ever again.

If you mean something better than that, there are several projects out there with that aim, e.g. http://www.wiili.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Are any successful.

Short answer: no.

Just run Linux on your PC. I don't see the (legal) point in doing otherwise, really. 

 I already have ubuntu on my pc. I just want it on my wii so I could use firefox  instead of the wii browser.

It's not happening any time soon. Sorry.

My advice: buy an Ubuntu UMPC when they come out.

 What are they.

The cool thing about having Linux on the Wii would be to be able to develop homemade Wii games. If there's a way to run Linux without voiding the warranty, I'd sure be having fun porting over some of my pet projects to the Wii.

Ubuntu have a code branch called Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded. They plan to put it on PCs that are bigger than mobile phones and smaller than laptops. These are called Ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). The computers that they are making it for are based on upcoming lines of Intel x86-based CPUs, so it will be quite easy to port desktop Ubuntu applications to the portable ones. The user interface will be very different, however.

Here is an example of an existing UMPC, to give you a size impression:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/N810-open.jpg

There isn't and there won't be for some time, but individual efforts towards that goal are in early stages.