Orto, ditto @mmi. You need a simple converter cable to use it with mini-breakout and you'll need to supply external power.
As far as the dev board is concerned, I think that's an overkill and too much hassle, just pick a USB sound card supported by Linux and that should be cheaper and faster in enabling.
As far as software is concerned - that would depend on which formats you're going to playback/record + what your project is in general. I used aplay/arecord for my tests and I don't have any bigger project related to audio right now, so I haven't looked any further into this.