Linux Day and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex are coming, many potential new users will try Linux for the first time and a part of them will remain with Windows or (worse) will switch to Mac OS X.
If you think "Linux ecosystem" is ready for the masses, You have just to show it!
Ubuntu Killer Apps (HD) from grigio.org on Vimeo.
(Go to Vimeo Site to watch it in HD)
Another good video service is Blip.tv, here is the same video.
Screencasting on Linux it's easy, install gtk-recordmydesktop and run it.
Now record what software you like and explain how you use it on every day or choose a topic to help new Linux users in simple tasks.
You can also record video and audio simultaneously with Compiz enabled.
There are a lot of screencast about Linux, Ubuntu, Compiz,.. on YouTube, but this videos are far to be useful for new users, the quality is very low and the writings aren't readeable.
To have a screencast in HD you have to follow the Online Video Service specification and maybe to do some tests.
Vimeo: It supports HD only in 16:9, so choose a compatible screen resolution before recording.screencasting (ex. 1280x720) or adapt your 4:3 screencast to that resolution with Avidemux(*) adding black lateral borders.
YouTube: It supports HD but you have to convert(*) the .ogg video in .mp4 before uploading.

YouTube
YouTube HD (click on "watch in high quality ")
Vimeo
Vimeo HD
If you want to add transition effects, titles or the soundtrack to your video the most usable & stable Video Editor for Linux is Kdenlive. If you think to edit your audio/video choose 25 fps before recording.
It's possible to print on screen the shortcuts pressed with shortcut-notifier or if you need to hightlight the pointer position enable it in mouse preferencies.
Ubuntu Screencasts
Ubuntu Developers Channel
(Compiz) FusionCast
Inkscape Tutorials
Grafica professionale con GIMP (Italian)
Guia Ubuntu (Spanish)
(*) Avidemux supports many codecs but not .ogg directly. You can transcode the file.ogg in mp4 with:
mencoder INPUT.ogg -aspect 16:9 -of lavf -lavfopts format=psp -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts aglobal=1:vglobal=1:coder=0:vcodec=libx264:acodec=libfaac:vbitrate=4500:abitrate=128 -vf scale=1280:720 -ofps 30000/1001 -o OUTPUT.mp4
or
mencoder INPUT.ogg -aspect 4:3 -of lavf -lavfopts format=psp -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts aglobal=1:vglobal=1:coder=0:vcodec=libx264:acodec=libfaac:vbitrate=4500:abitrate=128 -vf scale=960:720 -ofps 24000/1001 -o OUTPUT.mp4
Thanks to Eugenia
commenti
what I miss from Vimeo
I really like Vimeo.. It's far superior to Youtube on many aspects: video quality, download speed, user interface, etc..
Anyway I still miss one feature I think its pretty useful: the ability to skip forward the video while it's still not being downloaded. That's a killer feature when you are playing long videos and you watch them in different sessions.
Just my 2 cents.
Fabio Varesano
You are right, but the video
You are right, but the video quality is more important in this context.
Another hq video service is blip.tv, it also permits hq 4/3 videos
yeah.. probably blip.tv is
yeah.. probably blip.tv is the best one.
Robert MacEwan
Great write-up. Screencasting was difficult under Linux in the past. Now days I can use VMWare for those on my MacBook Air.
Nice :P
but you can't record Compiz with that
weizbox
If you thought it was so important to show Linux, and for some reason Ubuntu specifically in HD, than why didn't you bother including an HD video in this article? The embedded video is no HD :(
Embedded video IS HD!
but only if you see it on Vimeo
(Go to Vimeo Site to watch it in HD)