Technical stuff Requirements are like water. They're easier to build on when they're frozen.

You might need to make a short video recording of your actions to share with someone else. Maybe you need to show a client how things should be done, or you want to show off to your blog’s readers, who knows?

What software package to use?

There are a lot of solutions out there, I’ve tried a bunch of them, but only got one to work: GTK recordMyDesktop.

How to install it?

If you’re a command-line tekkie, go ahead and type this:
sudo apt-get install gtk-recordmydesktop

Alternatively, you can install gtk-recordmydesktop from the Synaptic package manager.

How do I use it?

I recommend you to use the documentation section on the package’s website.
Here are some quick tips to get you started:

• open the app using Applications > Sound & Video > gtk-recordMyDesktop
• go to the Advanced settings and change the settings to fit your needs (hint: you might want to use maximum number of frames, which is 50, for smoother videos)
• click Record and the gtk-recordMyDesktop window will minimize to a small red dot at the bottom left of your screen; when you are finished recording, you will click this button
• after you’re done, click Save As to write the file in your filesystem
• I assume you will not be happy with the .ogv extension if you have windows clients, so you will want to make .mpg; here’s how you do this in the command line: ffmpeg -i my_saved_file.ogv my_destination_file.mpg