A Guide to Linux for Entertainment

A Guide to Linux for Entertainment
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Creating Entertaining Content

Creating quality content is Linux’s greatest asset in the creative industry. It is very stable yet very customizable, thanks to its free and open source nature. This makes it perfect for today’s brand of entertainment: user created visual arts and music. This development was accelerated by the advent of Web 2.0, which literally allows the user to create his own entertainment and participate in a greater creative community across the Internet.

While professionals still commonly use the Adobe Creative Suite and other commercial software for their work, Linux already has tools which can match or even exceed the features of those software. Still, it must be noted that a certain learning curve is still required to make the most out of these tools and most of these programs are continually improved and polished.

Enjoying Your Content in Linux

Linux not only allows you to create your content, it also allows you to enjoy the content that other people has produced. These not only includes videos and music but also e-books and other digitally published media. Linux has kept up with the fast-changing digital publishing scene by adopting the new standards in publishing, like Kindle. Still, most e-texts are kept in PDF format, which can be easily viewed through programs in-built in most distributions. You can also opt to scan your offline collection to ensure its preservation and to enhance its portability.

For music and video, there are two loose divisions in the manner that the content is transmitted to you. One of the most popular methods today is to use streaming technology. This technology, as contrasted to more traditional file playback, is more akin to TV and radio in offline media. Managing media files, on the other hand, is also extremely easy with Linux. Most programs have a more integrated relationship with the operating system, so you can expect reliable, fast and constant performance everytime.

Improving Your Content: Tips, Tricks and Goodies

Integral to Linux entertainment is the customizability that each application or program offers. This is what causes the extreme usability and power of the platform. In this section, we will look at some of the many different tricks and tips for different Linux creative software that can help you improve your craft and allow you to gain more satisfaction with your creative pursuits.

Converting between file formats may seem a daunting chore for most of us. After all, why do we need more than ten types of files just to play music? We must remember thateach file format has its given pros and cons, and thus has its own audience. However, switching file formats to fit your needs should not be that difficult in Linux. Below are articles which will be very helpful in teaching you how to convert between audio and video file formats in Linux.

Many consider the GIMP to be the crowning achievement of Linux as a creative tool. The GIMP is an extremely powerful image manipulation tool which can do many varied tasks from simple image correction to adding special effects for videos. Its secret is the extreme customizability using third-party plugins, brushes and other modifications to make the GIMP suit your needs. If you are doing a transition from Photoshop to the GIMP, you may find some difficulty in the different layout and workflow. The articles below may help in easing the transition.

Scribus is another up and coming software tool in Linux. Scribus is a desktop publishing software, which allows you make professional-looking print meda like documents, books, invitations and the like. Scribus is gaining prominence today due to its being an extremely cheaper and potentially more powerful alternative to other commercial desktop publishing suites. Below are some tips we have for those who wish to explore Scribus.

References

  • Linux Wiki: linux.wikia.com
  • Hall, Michael and Brian Proffitt. The Joy of Linux. United States: Prima Publishing. 2001