If you haven’t tried linux, you really are missing something. In the 10 years that I have tried and retried linux, it has changed immensely. I can remember not being able to load the desktop on my first go around because I had slightly non-mainstream video card. And I’m not talking too far out of the mainstream. Since then, I have grown in my linux acumen. And it seems that linux has completely out-paced my own knowledge growth. Linux now sports just about any software need you may have, and some. Let’s look at 2 particular software projects that caught my eye recently. But believe me when I say this, there are literally thousands and thousands more that you can delve into. Seriously, you should give linux a try!
I have been watching for the release of UbuntuStudio for a while now. I was pleased to see on my latest check that it is ready for release. UbuntuStudio is a completely free audio, video, and graphics Ubuntu version. Here is a list of the apps you can expect to find in this lovely distro:
tk707 - drum sequencer for a sound card or MIDI device
linuxsampler - software audio sampler
linux-image-rt - Low latency kernel
Video
pitivi - Video editor
cinepaint - A painting and image retouching program designed to work best with 35mm film and other high resolution high dynamic range images.
ffmpeg - Multimedia player, server and encoder
ffmpeg2theora - Theora video encoder using ffmpeg
kino - A non-linear editor for Digital Video data
stopmotion - A program for creating stop motion animation.
dvgrab - Grab digital video data via IEEE1394 links
jahshaka - (not in the repos and deferred until next upstream release.)
cinelerra - (not in the repos and deferred until license issues are worked out)
Graphics
inkscape - A vector-based drawing program.
blender - A very fast and versatile 3D suite for modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback.
gimp - A raster-based drawing program.
gimp-gap - GAP is a collection of plug-ins to extend the GIMP with capabilities to edit and create animations and movies as sequences of single frames.
gimp-print - Print plugin for the GIMP
gimp-dcraw - A plug-in to import RAW images.
f-spot - A personal photo management application.
scribus - A open source desktop page layout program.
gnome-raw-thumbnailer - a thumbnailer for GNOME that will make thumbnails for camera RAW files.
xsane - GTK+-based X11 frontend for SANE. (Scanner Access Now Easy)
wacom-tools - Software for you Wacom drawing pad.
hugin - An easy to use cross-platform GUI for Panorama Tools.
synfigstudio - A vector 2D based animation package (GUI)
agave - Colorscheme generator.
enblend - A tool for compositing images.
yafray - A modern, xml-speaking raytracing-based rendering system
nautilus-image-converter - nautilus extension to mass resize images
You can get it for free and give it a try. Now, let’s move on to the LinuxMCE project. In case you’re wondering, MCE stands for Media Center Edition. Maybe a video will be best here:
And also this one:
As you can see, LinuxMCE is full featured and very nice. Again, go download it and give it a try - it’s free!
It’s hard to beat FREE especially when it’s high quality. I’m definitely going to have to try this release out. Any idea how this stacks up against mythtv ?
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It’s hard to beat FREE especially when it’s high quality. I’m definitely going to have to try this release out. Any idea how this stacks up against mythtv ?
I’ll have to give Linux a whirl when I get time.