How to Podcast from Linux

How to Podcast in Linux

In this article I attempt to give the reader an overview of how to podcast. This is not meant to be all inclusive. Rather it is a quick guide as to what it takes to make a podcast. From here you should have enough knowledge to intelligently use Google to get further answers. That does not mean that I won't answer questions, I am just saying that you should have what you need to do further research.

While I titled this How to Podcast from Linux, it really is not Linux specific. The only real software that you need that will be running on your local system is Audacity which is available for Linux, Mac and Windows. Everything else can be done through the web browser.

What makes a Podcast?
File types
The files can be just about any file type/format you want. For audio podcasts these are usually .mp3 or .ogg. For video podcasting there are several formats to chose from. I am not sure which is the most common since I don't do a video podcast.

The information on how podcasts work and how to do an audio one will be a simple introduction to doing a video podcast if you choose to get complicated.

Most audio podcasts are MP3, though they could be something else. Some are AAC (Apple's proprietary format) while others are WMA (Windows Media Player format). Going with either proprietary format is, in general, a bad idea. I would also caution against Ogg Vorbis. Many stand alone MP3 players cannot handle .ogg files, though just about any computer should be able to play them.

Choose a bit rate on the MP3 file that is adequate for the quality you need without going too large on the file sizes. Going higher than a bit rate of 128, even for a music podcast, is excessive. For speech only you can probably get by with a 32 kbps file without losing too much quality. I subscribe to some that use 16 kbps.

I do mine at 64 kbps mono. If I were to do my show at 32 kbps mono then my 6 MB shows would be just 3 MB. If you don't need stereo, then try to avoid it. It literally doubles the file size.

RSS Feed
The RSS feed is what makes a podcast special. It is no longer a file that sits on the server waiting for someone to surf buy and manually download it. Nor is it tied to the server like streaming audio. Having the file embedded into an RSS feed allows the user to be able to download your content into an RSS reader automatically. This is done just like you would pull in text from a website's feed. The difference is that it is now pulling down audio/video instead of just text.

This feed can be manually created and updated with each new show or you can use the feed generator in some blogging software to create the feed for you. More about this in the software section.

There is a special breed of feed readers called podcatchers. These include iTunes, amaroK, GoldenPod, Juice and many others. This list changes from day to day and is therefore hard to keep up with.

There are also online podcatchers. The listener can use a service like Odeo or Podcast Pickle to grab all of their podcasts and then listen to them or download them from one place.

What software is needed?
On the computer
To create and edit the podcast I just use Audacity. You have quite a bit of control over the file...which means it is a complicated program. Fortunately, there are many podcasters using this software, therefore there is a lot of info to be had on the web and in forums in case you get stuck.

Unfortunately, like many OSS programs, it seems a bit immature. If you get the latest beta and build it from source things seem a bit more robust. It has not been buggy in the last several iterations of the software, but it used to be very unstable. That included the non-beta versions too.

The general precaution with Audacity is to save early and often. I have had few problems with it, but I still save my work regularly.

There are many tutorials out there on how to use Audacity to change levels and generally clean up sound problems.

On the server
You will need some way to deliver the podcast to the listener. This can be done by hosting the files yourself or using a podcast specific hosting company.

If you host the files yourself you will have more control of the RSS feed. The feed can come back to bite you if it ever gets messed up. I heard one story of a podcaster who messed up his feed when he had tens of thousands of subscribers. The goof caused all of his listeners to get unsubscribed, though they thought they were still subscribed to the show and no new episodes were being produced. Unless they went to the show's website, they would never have known that they needed to resubscribe. As a result he lost almost all the listener base that he worked hard to obtain and had to start over getting new listeners.

A note about the above story. Unless there is something that you can "feature add" to the website, you can bet most of your listeners will not visit your site on a regular basis.

The best software that you can use to help you with the podcast and the feed is to have some kind of blogging software. That is because blogging software typically creates a feed automatically. I use WordPress. I use it with a plugin called PodPress which gives me a bit more control over the RSS feed without having to manually write it each week. There are other blog software and plugins you can use, this just happens to be the one with which I am most familiar.

You can, of course, write the RSS feed yourself. I am unfamiliar with doing this, so you will have to look elsewhere for help with that.

Even if you host the podcast yourself, you can use a service such as FeedBurner to write the feeds for you. They will make sure that your feed is compatible with the standards and any requirements iTunes makes. It is considered unfortunate by many podcasters that iTunes has the vast portion of the market share when it comes to being the client used for downloading podcasts. Some things have to be written specifically for iTunes for it to work right. This is where a feed writing service comes into play. If iTunes changes their format in any way, the service should be on top of fixing your feed to comply with the changes in a timely manner.

The other option for hosting is to use a podcast hosting service such as LibSyn or SwitchPod. This model is opposite from standard hosting. In standard hosting you have large storage capacities but limited bandwidth. In a podcast hosting situation you are limited on storage, but usually have unlimited bandwidth. These will cost you a few dollars a month. This is about the same as the cost to host it yourself. They roll the feed creation into the service as well as make it easy to maintain your site and upload your shows.

Which is best? That would depend on you and your show. Do your research and see if you can find a solution that works best for you.

***I have mentioned in this section specific companies like LibSyn, FeedBurner and SwitchPod. There are many other services that provide what they do. Look around and find one that fits you.

What hardware is needed?
Hardware is the most expensive of the items that you need. Some people have spent thousands of dollars on equipment. Though you might end up there, you certainly don't need to start there.

My show started with a headset that I already had. I moved up to a fancy XLR microphone which cost me $8. I am currently still using that. When I got that mic I had no mixer and just worked through all kinds of converters to go from XLR to 1/8" mini plug into the sound card on the computer. I now have a basic mixer that allows me to control the levels coming in from the mic.

Depending on your show format, another piece of hardware that you will want to get is a recorder for the road. If you want to be able to record without lugging around your notebook, then you have several options.

It may be as simple as your cell phone. If you have a voice recorder in the phone and a way to get the sound out, you may be set.

Many MP3 players have built in voice recorders. Some will even take an external mic so that you can get better quality recordings. I just bought an iRiver iFP-890 for $13 off of ebay. The 700 and 800 series iRivers are discontinued, but are very popular in the podcasting community for mobile recording. Many of the newer iRivers will not accept external microphones.

There is also the upper end of field recorders. The one I want is the Samson H4.

Conclusion
I hope that helps answer some questions about how to podcast. There is a lot more that could be said.

I am curious if anyone else in the group has a podcast. Even if you don't, please feel free to add to this thread any information that might be helpful.