Linux in the chain: production studios are using the free OS in all types of supporting roles.(Operating System)

A few years ago, studios creating digital content for film and broadcast began adding Linux-based hardware and software to their production pipelines. An early, high-profile example was Dream-Works SKG, which used Linux-based application in its feature-film pipeline for the first time back in 2001 on Shrek. At that time, animation studios large and small were either moving to Linux or considering such a move (see "Linux Invades Hollywood," Computer Graphics World, September 2001, pg. 38).

Three years later, the invasion looks more like a gentle assimilation--studios are using Linux to save money and bolster productivity, but, in most cases, they have not thrown ...