I'm pretty inebriated right now, having just returned from a pool match, but I'll try to sort things out in a limited fashion before I pass out.
First off, I suggested an epicyclic gear train in lieu of a lead-screw, rather than in conjunction with one. That would give some sort of advantage if using a rack and pinion approach.
The complications involved in using a rack and pinion are incredibly formidable.
As for the "skipping" followers... traditionally, most followers do indeed have threads that match the screw drive rod. I'm going to say this in the simplest way that I can, to try to compensate for our language differences. Think, if you will, of a solid piece of pipe that just barely fits over the screw rod and can slide up and down it. Now, drill and tap a hole in the side of that pipe. Screw in a bolt with a rounded end, until it stops just short of the interior diameter of the pipe. The whole thing can still slide up and down on that screw rod. Now, when you want to engage, you just twist the bolt a couple of times until the rounded end catches in the threads of the screw rod. That whole pipe is then a follower.
A linear actuator is any device that provides a straight-line force in any particular direction. As it is normally considered, as has been done in this thread, it consists usually of a simple lead-screw contained within a cylindrical metal housing.
I really have to bag some ZZZ's now, but I'll try to get back to you within a couple of days.
And by the bye... chill a bit. Stress does no good for anyone, and is counter-productive when you are actually trying to achieve something. Think like a Vulcan.