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Welcome to this year's 38th issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The major news of the past week was, of course, the release of Slackware Linux 10.2 - a distribution with a clear focus on simplicity, stability and reliability. Next on the release calendar: Mandriva Linux 2006 - with the second release candidate announced last week, we can't be too far off from the final release. Also in this issue: an explanation about the delay of KNOPPIX 4.0 CD edition, news about a live CD that uses Xen to boot a host operating system, and two free learning resources - one for OpenBSD and one for Linux. We also take a brief look at a new book for Xandros users - Linux Made Easy. Happy reading!

No one can tell you what operating systems are best for your organization or yourself better than you can. Here are some tips for selecting the right OS for the right job.

Typing long path names at the command line can get to be a chore very quickly. Even with tab-completion, it can take a lot of typing to move from your home directory to /var/www/www.mysite.com/cgi-bin or something similar. Wouldn't it be much better if you could "bookmark" long path names and type something simple, like cdb site, to get to a directory? That's where CDargs comes in. CDargs is a program that provides bookmarks and browsing at the command line. It takes a little work to set up, but it's well worth it. I've been using this program for a few years now, and it really does help speed up work at the shell.

More flexible licensing is one of the biggest draws open source software has for enterprise users, and the current shift toward dual-core and multi-core processors and use of virtualization technologies may give Linux and open source software even more of an advantage, say analysts and open source project leaders.

Macros are important in an office suite. They are the only realistic way for non-programmers to create interactive documents quickly or add special features to the application. While many open source office suites are embracing OpenDocument as a common file format, the lack of common macro language support will prevent meaningful file interchange.

The Dell Latitude 110L features a Linux operating system, a mobile Celeron/Pentium chip and starts at around $1,000.

Klik is a system which creates self-contained packages of programmes installable over the web with a single click. In the article below Kurt Pfeifle discusses the potential uses of this technology for helping the non-coding contributors to KDE. He also looks at how the system works and the obvious security issues involved.

The Code Project, Mainsoft, and IBM are challenging developers to a race. Developers won't be setting any land-speed records, however -- this race is to be the first across the finish line with a port of an ASP.Net application to run on Linux.

Imagine you're a new Linux user. You ordered an Ubuntu CD weeks ago and forgot about it. You're surprised it actually comes in the mail. You slap the shiny disc into your PC and cross your fingers. The installation is quite slick. You're impressed by the splash screen and attractive desktop. Wow, you think you're hot stuff -- a Linux user. But the euphoria fades as you realize there's a problem with your modem. Now what do you do?

MontaVista Software released the latest version of its embedded Linux software: MontaVista Linux Professional Pro Edition 4.0. The new software, targeted to run real-time applications on appliances, mobile devices and other non-traditional PC/server equipment, includes the latest version of the Linux kernel - 2.6.10 - as well as support for several new interface types, network protocols and improved processing capabilities.

The WinFS threat to Mono that Mark Driver pointed out at the recent Gartner AD Summit stuck in my mind. I decided to check with Mono project founder and longtime free software developer Miguel de Icaza for his view on the subject.

IBM and Red Hat have jointly announced a global initiative to help accelerate the development and adoption of Linux-based solutions in emerging markets, such as China, India, Russia, and Korea, as well as in established markets worldwide. I talked with Todd Chase, Program Director, IBM Innovation Centers, about the program and why it should be of interest to every IT manager involved with Linux and open software.

The Dell Latitude 110L features a Linux operating system, a 1.4GHz or 1.7GHz mobile Celeron/Pentium chip and starting price under $1,000.

In tutorials at IBM centers, the two companies will promote Linux-based solutions among emerging-market software sellers.

In tutorials at IBM innovation centers, the two companies will promote Linux-based solutions among emerging-market software vendors.

But the open-source advocacy group that had pushed the effort claims partial victory anyway.

Mandriva, the number one European Linux publisher, today announces the availability of a Dell Laptop pre-loaded With Mandriva Linux. The association - a first for the two companies - represents a milestone in Mandriva's effort to make Linux even more accessible to customers, thanks to large OEM deals. Mandriva also counts HP in its portfolio of leading manufacturers.

The South African state technology agency has issued a request for potential suppliers of open source software, applications and services to government. This morning the agency held a briefing for bidders.

There is no shortage of Jabber clients for Linux and other platforms, but that doesn't mean that there isn't room for one more Jabber client with a strong feature set. Gajim is a Jabber client written in PyGTK and released under the GNU General Public License. Despite a few rough edges, I found Gajim impressive.

This week, advisories were released for apache, kdelibs, cvs, mod_ssl, tdiary, squid, mozilla, common-lisp, turqstat, slib, umb-scheme, psmisc, gtk, file, subversion, unzip, e2fsprogs, selinux-policy-targeted, firefox, mozilla, vte, xdelta, tvtime, dhcp, gnupg, util-linux, mc, libwnck, pcre, exim, and squid. The distributors include, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and Red Hat.