As an amateur filmmaker, I have always felt the lack of a powerful and trusted alternative to Final Cut Pro or Sony Vegas on the GNU/Linux platform. There are many solutions, including Cinelerra, Kino, OpenMovie, Kdenlive, etc, but none are mature enough to match their non-free counterparts. Also, they tend to crash frequently, which is unacceptable after you've edited a 3D-minute clip on the time line. I had stayed away from the slave world of Apple's Mac and the monopolistic world of Microsoft Windows, but for how long? Then, finally, a few days back I chanced up on Kdenlive again, version 0.7.5, since someone forwarded me a link.

This new version has made me realise that Kdenlive has almost everything that an amateur would want. It may not be as perfect as its proprietary counterparts, but the current release tells us much more about the current attitude within the GNU/Linux world. Ubuntu is almost an equivalent to Windows and Mac for the average user; Firefox is beating IE and Safari badly; Amarok is the best music player around; VLC has no competition whatsoever; then there's the GIMP, PidGin, Gyachee, and much more. GNU/Linux is like a magician's hat-it will offer you whatever you ask for. Now, with Kdenlive, one of the missing links is being addressed too.