Action

Multimedia learning has long been established in companies and government agencies. Screencasts, which reproduce the screen content of computer systems as video sequences, along with spoken instructions from the tutor, are an important tool. Whether they are simple operating procedures in word processors or complex commands in a higher programming language, screencasts can contribute to the understanding of interrelations in information technology.

Problematic

In the Linux world, many free projects have engaged in screencast software development. However, some obstacles make it difficult to use: For example, Linux uses two sound architectures – ALSA and OSS – and no fewer than three current sound servers in the form of ALSA, PulseAudio, and Jack. Two different multimedia frameworks compete for the task of handling recording, playback, and encoding/decoding of audio and video data: GStreamer and FFmpeg. Add to that an almost unmanageable number of video and audio codecs. Because some screencast programs also depend on specific graphical component libraries like GTK+ or Qt, they will not integrate seamlessly with just any old desktop environment.

Apart from these differences, before you can use a screen recorder, you also need to note that the functionality of individual applications differs; this means that not all programs may be fit for the intended purpose: Some screencast applications lack the ability to record content from windows, which makes it impossible to use them on virtual machines. Others cannot grab sections, and some can only record video sequences, but not audio content.

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