01 March 2007

Using Samba, 3rd Edition

"Samba. To most people with a technical background, the word immediately invokes an image of Linux and Windows machines working and playing well together, however it is so much more (and for those of you who clicked on the link to this review thinking it was about the popular Brazilian music form, try Wikipedia instead). Even samba.org uses the line in its header "Opening Windows to a Wider World". However, just how far does that world extend?

I recently read a review at O'Reilly of a book I had previously reviewed for The Linux Tutorial website. The anonymous reviewer stated that the book was very good but only useful to IT professionals. The reviewer felt that the book should have widened it's scope to include the 'mainstream consumer'. Problem is, the book wasn't written for the 'mainstream consumer'. The specific focus of that book was the IT professional. So is Using Samba. More specficially, this book targets those folks who will be using Samba in their roles as UNIX and Linux system administrators providing file and print services to Windows hosts (and lest we forget, 'UNIX and Linux' also includes such systems as Solaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X). If you are a student who wants to do some work in *nix/Windows interoperation or you just get your kicks setting up Samba servers, you'll also find this text useful but please keep in mind, home users, small office users, and Windows geeks are not the readers of choice.

The bottom line is if you are a UNIX administrator looking to learn or update your skills on Samba 3.0, add the Carter, et al book to your list of 'must have' resources. If you are a student looking in the UNIX/Linux admin direction as far as career advancement, this text is for you, too."

Click on the link below for the full article:

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/modules.php?name=MReviews&op=show&rid=33

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