The next release of Kubuntu Linux is named Dapper Drake. For Kubuntu, the process of getting to the final release is relatively public, which is not always the case with other distributions. At this point, four different Dapper Drake pre-release CD images have been made available to the general public. Although the average TUX reader is not a candidate for playing with this potentially unstable software, I never have been called average, so I have been playing with it since the first pre-release.

Up until last week, I thought I was playing around with Dapper Drake solely for my own interests. But, Mark Shuttleworth, "father of Ubuntu and Kubuntu", recently scheduled an on-line public meeting to discuss the possibility of delaying the Dapper Drake release by six weeks. A final decision will be made after the meeting.

How templates function differently in OpenOffice.org than they do in other office suites, and why OpenOffice.org's are better.

"Where are my custom formats? I spent hours getting them right. Now, when I open a new document, they're gone."

This panicked cry or ones similar to it are posted almost daily to the OpenOffice.org User's List. Half of the time, the problem is the user have not heard of templates. The other half of the time, the users are expecting templates to behave the same in OpenOffice.org as they do in other office suites--but they don't. In both cases, the solution is to learn how OOo templates behave so you can work with them instead of against them. Some template behaviors in OOo may seem quirky, and at least one of them is a bug, but all of them are worth knowing. Once you do know them, you should find that the way OOo handles templates reduces the chances of problems and conflicts and makes documents more portable.

Having already volunteered to make pretty signs for our big event, I had to learn how to do so on my computer--fast. Enter The GIMP.

A couple of months ago, I joined the organizing committee for the Moisture Festival, a series of comedie/varieté shows held each spring in Seattle, Washington. When I joined, the committee was working madly to get everything together for a few holiday benefit/fundraising shows. Everybody was diving in and taking on duties left and right. As with most theater groups, we were short on time and funds, but we made up for it with creativity and dedication.

Straight from Vegas, Gadget Guy brings word of four cool new Linux-friendly gadgets you should know about. [This article initially appeared in TUX, issue 11.]

The Consumer Electronics Show, held annually at the beginning of January, is a treasure trove of products for the gadget freak--big gadgets, small gadgets, phone gadgets, multimedia gadgets and even Linux gadgets. I had the chance to attend the show again this year and got a look at a few new Linux-friendly products.

Linspire Mini

www.linspire.com

A look behind the latest headlines in the Linux desktop arena.

Looking for a Tier-One Linux Desktop? Try a Workstation.

What's the difference between a desktop computer and a workstation? At Dell, the difference is one comes with Linux and one doesn't. eWeek.com has an interesting article, "When Is a Linux Workstation Really a Desktop?, that explains how Dell has started advertising the availability of three workstations that come with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) WS installed. Currently, however, the only open-source Dell desktop systems available come with the pretty obscure FreeDOS OS. And if you choose to install Linux, Dell will not support it.

A look behind the latest headlines in the Linux desktop arena.

Take Part in Novell's Survey to Bring Most Popular Apps to Linux

Have you been waiting and hoping for Adobe to release a Linux version of Photoshop? If so, you're not alone. According to the latest results of Novell's survey to find out what applications Linux users want ported to their OS, Photoshop is the number-one most-wanted Linux port. Novell announced the survey about a month ago. The company intends to take the results directly to the vendors in hopes of getting them to partner with Novell on Linux ports.

Gadget Guy introduces you to this digital music system that lets Linux users join the party. [This article initially appeared in TUX, issue 10.]

One of the sad ironies of this new world of wireless multimedia sharing is that although many gadgets out there use an integrated Linux OS to get music from point A to point B, very few of them actually allow Linux users to indulge in music-sharing fun. Enter the Sonos Digital Music System.

The Sonos system is called a system for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's split up into components rather than being an all-in-one solution. The basic setup consists of a wireless base station, known as the ZonePlayer, and a portable handheld remote control, known as the Controller.

Here's an excerpt from Point & Click OpenOffice.org that shows you how to create slides and slide shows that are sure to make an impression.

OOo Impress is a replacement for Microsoft's PowerPoint. Even if you're not an experienced presenter, Impress will help you create professional-looking slide shows.

Creating a Slide Show from OOo's Built-in Templates

OOo has a couple of canned presentations you can use. Bring up the templates, add your text, and you have a quick presentation, all ready to go.

Start OOo and select File > New. Choose Templates and Documents from the bottom of the list. Select the "Introducing a New Product" template. The basic slide show outline appears in the main slide-editing window, ready for your customization.