Many, (though not all) of the core tools of digital cinema are based upon Open Source standards. The most obvious is the compression standard, JPEG 2000 and the security standard, 256-bit AES encryption.  

This ongoing column will list open source software that can and is being used in the industry, from acquisition to exhibition. Please add more of your own in the comments and I’ll drag them to the proper category. Anyone who would like to write articles on their use, please submit them.

The newest to hit the streets, end of November 2010: Lightworks, right now for PCs only, but promised for Linux and Mac by the end of next year.

Kdenlive | Free and open source video editor for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD

Introducing Color Scopes: The Vectorscope | Kdenlive

PiTiVi, a free and open source video editor for Linux

An Ars Technica review of the three: Video editing in Linux: a look at PiTiVi and Kdenlive