If you want to burn DVDs under Linux, refer to this website:

http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/linux/DVD+RW/

The program "growisofs" will write to any DVD format provided your drive unit supports the format. The learning curve for learning how to write DVDs under LInux is fairly steep but worth the effort.

The whole DVD thing is in a state of flux. There are two new DVD formats (DVD-HD and BlueRay) that are on the horizon. These new formats will render obsolete the current formats (the new formats have almost an order-of-magnitutde greater storage capacity). There's a hidden agenda with the new formats in that Hollywood has piracy issues and wants to get the current DVD formats made obsolete as soon as possible. DVD movies are copy protected under an encryptian scheme called "DeCSS". Unfortunately for Hollywood, a Norwegian kid cracked DeCSS and published the algorithm on the Internet. Now anyone can download the decryptian software as freeware and make perfect copies of DVDs provided the movie can fit on a 4.7 Gbyte DVD. There are also compression programs that can squash a standard size movie down to 4.7 Gbytes with some data loss. To add further confustion, there is a format available called "DVD+R DL" that enables copying without data loss (it can hold 8.5 Gbytes). However the cost of DVD+R DL media is prohibitively expensive (Hollywood is holding a gun to someone's head). The new DVD formats (DVD-HD and BlueRay) will use a more robust encryption format that supposably a bright teenage boy can't easily crack (I'll believe it when I see it).

Goggle all this stuff. You'll find it fascinating reading.

Gary