The first beta version of Caldera’s next Linux distribution is due out later today, reports ZDNet. Dubbed Project 42, the beta of this OpenLinux server is billed by the company as the first in a line of “Unix integration products.” Project 42 can run as a standalone OpenLinux distribution, or “on top of” SCO’s UnixWare.

Announcing KDE-Women: “The latest addition to the KDE web family is but a few days old and in search of enthusiastic women coders, writers and designers. The new KDE-Women website has set out to do this and much more. The stated goal of the website: We want to build an international KDE forum for women by providing a place where women can present what they already contribute to KDE and where women, who want to contribute, find a starting point. But the content on these pages is not only for women but for everybody. By doing this project we actively want to contibute to the success of KDE.”

ZDNet reports on the latest handheld gadgets from Palm. The $499 m505 features a 16-bit color screen and a Secure Digital expansion slot. The $399 m500 features a monochrome display along with a slimmer profile. Both units feature rechargeable batteries and Palm OS 4.0. “”This is a really great time to purchase a PDA,” said Microsoft product manager Ed Suwanjindar. “Companies continue to raise the bar for what these devices can do.””

IBM’s R&D folks may have churned out another hit: XQuery. That’s the catchy new name for an XML query language that Big Blue’s Almaden Research Lab (with the assistance of SQL author Don Chamberlin) has created. XQuery can pull information from a much larger resource pool than the standard rows and tables found in traditional relational databases. Says IBM Fellow Hamid Pirahesh: “At some point, this could become as big as SQL.” Full story at ZDNet.

From ZDNet News: “More than half a dozen antivirus software makers have recently released applications that prevent malicious code from entering corporate networks via mobile devices. Yet what some would praise as foresight, others are criticizing as overly fierce marketing. In fact, the flood of new software has several security researchers arguing that the antivirus companies are hyping what is currently a minimal threat and that the software, rather than helping, is highlighting insecurities in the devices.”

use Perl tells us that the latest trial release leading up to Perl 5.6.1 has been released. Download the latest, standard beta/trial software warnings apply.

The latest security advisories include a buffer overflow problem with icecast, the possibility of remote exploits for slrn users, format string vulnerabilities with mutt, and a grab-bag of issues with the CUPS package. Thanks to LWN.net for the links.

The latest edition of Dr. Dobb’s weekly list of news and announcements for the Python community is now available at LWN.net.

Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that there will be some sort of .Net component for Linux. Will Linux users embrace such technology? Not likely, say analysts, noting that the bulk of .Net enhancements will probably support Microsoft’s own operating systems. Full story at Computerworld.

Napster is playing by the rules these days — exactly by the rules. By following the preliminary injunction to the letter, the file trading company hopes to maintain an appearance of cooperation to the court without shedding any more of its users. Full story at ZDNet Interactive Week.