Ubuntu on Air Is Now Live

A lot of us are bored to tears with all the Ubuntu "news." But that shows how successful Ubuntu has been with publicity and attracting fans. I've been pondering doing some kind of a Linux newscast, not distro-specific but more general. Would anyone actually listen to it? Going on the assumption, of course, that it will be reasonably interesting and well-produced.

I think so. I think a lot of Ubuntu users are also well aware that Ubuntu is Linux so they would not necessarily ignore your work.

I would listen faithfully TC....on that you can count.

The UUPC podcast has "The bit about Ubuntu," and "The bit not about Ubuntu." Maybe somebody could use the latter as a title for a new venture.

I've heard you speaking, tc. Haven't heard you, caitlin, so I can only imagine your speaking style from your writing style.

I think the FLOSS world could do with a lot more women's voices. Better if those voices are intelligent, informed, focused and informative, such as you two (although. as mentioned, in one case that's supposition).

As a break from the typical slurred, overly-casual, almost-off-mike and almost stammering male geek voices, it would grab attention in a way that would do both the FLOSS and equality movements good.

My opinion, of course, but as that of a longtime CBer, ham, shortwave listener and listener to alternative radio sources like Pacifica, it's not necessarily a totally uninformed one.

Maybe this is something to push under the LXer imprimatur.

Hadn't thought of an LXer podcast. That is intriguing.

> Would anyone actually listen to it?

If you could download it as an MP3, I could listen to it on my way to and from work, which is about the only time I have to listen to things. Otherwise I simply don't have the time to listen to things.

LXer Audio Week In Review? Probably something to build up to. Maybe a few specials, then monthly programming for starts, maybe even with a telephone interview each time. And try to license it such that, if, say, an NPR station finds it interesting enough to want to drop it into an otherwise-unpurposed local air-slot, they can, so get those releases from the interviewees going in.

If Skype or equivalent can deliver decent conference-call audio, another segment can be round-table discussion on some of the same issues which have shown up in the comment streams here, with perhaps the principals behind the events participating in the debate. WBUR-FM is local to me, so I'm drawing on parallels to their broadcast fare here; they're on the web so you can hear for yourself.

For the FLOSS side, tc has a knack, amply shown in her articles, for boiling down and explaining things to newcomers such that they sound doable. I'm still in a position of learning from Caitlin's writings; nuff said.

For the equality side, it's the bully pulpit, in this case delivering audio reinforcement of the the reality of women manifestly knowing what they're doing and being quite as competent at it as men. Not that the selection should be for just women; it should be for competence regardless of chromosomes, otherwise the point is lost. Still, maybe you can get Dru Lavigne on-mike when the topic turns to the BSDs.

I would listen to it.

I *sometimes* listen to the The Register podcasts. They could do with being a lot shorter though.

There's Skype, also Google Hangouts, or a Mumble server. The way most of the podcasts do it these days, they do the show over one of these networks, but everybody records their own audio locally. Then they FTP it up to a server, and somebody puts them all together.

Audacity is the way to record a good podcast

Quoting: The way most of the podcasts do it these days, they do the show over one of these networks, but everybody records their own audio locally. Then they FTP it up to a server, and somebody puts them all together.

If that mixdown includes switching from voice to voice, that's a lot of splicing. Even with a digital Edit-All and virtual splice tape like gNoise (I've used that, and real splicing on quarter-inch tape for audiodrama) or Audacity, there's a time-cost to 'rocking the reels' and tweaking the splice-points to get it right, and each splice is a cost-increment. Better if one source can be clean enough that the splicing is only done to switch segments and trim-to-time (the 'cast should be, as finished, a standard length).

When I was in KPFK-FM's studio for an Hour-25 SF thing, they floated a ribbon mike over a multiline speakerphone, the same mike that was capturing the show's hosts -- that was their call-in setup. Call-in audio doesn't have to be perfect, just comprehensible.

You take all the tracks, stack 'em up in Audacity, then mix down to mono (I find that stereo is not worth it for podcasts).