I'd heard a few years ago that it was pretty problematic software, and when I went around looking at alternatives it was one of the least recently updated (latest stable release 17 months ago, according to Wikipedia). So maybe "abandoned" isn't the right word, but that was the impression I left with.

The problem I had when searching was that there was a ton of choice under Linux (my short list was 10), but researching them from that point is not easy. They pretty much all show the same screenshot (media, clip monitor, timeline, timeline monitor). But how do you tell: Is it reliable? Does it have the effects I'll need? Is it serious or a toy?

Normally, I'd have heard of some things and at least know a reputation for something in the field. But video editing is so foreign to my domain, that I've maybe heard one thing about the Linux options over the last decade. Mostly you hear about Final Cut vs. Adobe Premier.