I am a high school teacher seriously interested in the possibilities of linux for use in education. A few quick questions: Are there user friendly, higher end, apps for non-linear video editing, web and other multimedia development? I have used and been pleased with the Gimp, but I need more! Also, assuming I am not a dumbass with computers, and have a significant amount of free time/mobility, how difficult and how long would it take to become fairly proficient at installing, networking (possibly with pc and mac os), and be able to tinker with linux and its apps to significantly benifit from the possibilities of the open source os? Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my post. Your help may be able to help students and schools access the power of computing without the high cost. Being able to use $ resources more efficiently is an important issue for schools around the world. Hopefully with the widespread use of linux, schools could spend money on REAL things like books, art, music, field trips, and good teachers.
Hey man. I'm glad to hear that you are interested in using Linux for education. Video Editing - check out Kino. I've never used this, but heard it was good for editting videos. My primary interest is in sound. Sound Editing - The best program I have found so far is audacity. This program can record simultaneous tracks like the Windows equivalent Cakewalk or Acid. It also has support for add-on plug-ins. A good site for linux programs is linuxsoft.cz/en To learn administration with Linux, I recommend installing Ubuntu (www.ubuntulinux.org) and playing around with it. The installation runs very smoothly and anyone who has a decent grasp on computers should have no trouble. Afterwards, you can check ubuntuforums or ubuntuguide.org for issues that you may have. Hope this helps.
I've heard there isn't too much in the way of OS video editing apps.. At least not anything that could really be a sufficient replacement for commercial apps anyway. As far as other multimedia type things, mozilla I believe has a pretty decent app for web development but I can't recall the site. For 3d and animation, Blender is really nice.
Networking computers with linux will be no sweat..infact that is one of the great features of linux. Im sure whatever distro you chose there will be plenty of tutorials around to help you accomplish your goal. Relative Information: http://www.google.com/linux Two non-linear video editors: kfilm kdenlive
Thanks for all of the information! Great places to start. I have used ubuntu and have been pretty impressed. I never thought about using Mozilla's Composer for web design, duh. I have Audacity demo on my Mac that doesn't quite work right, but looks easy enough to use. Thanks especially for the video links. Between the three, Kdenlive seemed like the most robust. I also checked out Cinelerra, which seemed on par with the editing systems I have already used. Kino was a little like iMovie, which is fine for certain things. Thanks again for all your information and help.
No problem, freshmeat.net is an awesome site which usually all of the new open-source projects are listed/submitted.
