it exellent for rendering you video if you build a array of processing power
you could use cinlerra for editing it on par with avid or final cut
and its free and open source it will run on redhat fedora core , suse ,debian ,slackware etc.
i also use maya complete fror linux from alias wavefront i run it on redhat fc4.
i also use a wacom 4x5 tablet configured using drivers from the wacom linux project at sourceforge.
i also do all of my rotoscoping use the one of the most widely use opensource tools in hollywood
cinepaint. as one might know it as photoshop for linux here a linux for the two programs listed above :
cinepaint
cinelerra
wacom for linux
thanx
catofong