Subj : Re: NFS vs. Samba
To   : comp.os.linux
From : Sybren Stuvel
Date : Sun Dec 19 2004 01:35 am

Gerald Meazell enlightened us with:
> I spent thirteen years as a developer in the I/T industry so I'm no
> stranger to technology.  My problem is that if the people writing
> that documentation also wrote a driver instruction manual, it would
> look like this:

Well, I looked at 'man smb.conf' and searched for 'wins'. The first
hit is on the 'max ttl' option, and tells me:

	 This option tells smbd(8) when acting as a WINS server (wins
	 support = yes)

So at the first hit, it tells me that 'wins support = yes' will make
Samba act like a WINS server. What more do you need to know?

> Unfortunately, the more I participate in these Linux groups, it has
> become apparent that most of the participants are a bunch of snobs
> whose attitude is that if you're not some sysadmin guru, you have no
> business using Linux.

Sorry, but how can you be in the IT industry for 13 years, and miss
such an obvious option in the most obvious manual page?

> Well, that's like the old college graduate's catch-22: You can't get
> a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job.

I've learned how to use Linux, and I've never been anybody's
apprentice. I learned everything the hard way.

> I don't have the luxury of working as a sysadmin's apprentice for
> several years.

Neither have I.

> I want to adopt and use this technology in my company today.

Then you need to learn how to read first.

> I'm lost in a sea of documentation.

That is something I can understand. First things first: always start
with the manual pages.

> What I need is a comprehensive set of case studies.  I'd like to
> find something entitled "Connecting Windows XP to a Samba server
> over a VPN." Will I ever find that?  No.

Nope, indeed. Make up your mind, though: first you complain about the
sea of documentation, which is so large you get lost. Then you call
for even more documentation!

> You can't find that in the Samba docs because it is a VPN issue.
> You can't find it in the VPN docs because it is a Samba issue.

Answer this question thruthfully, please. Are _you_ going to write a
document entitled "Connecting Windows XP to a Samba server over a
VPN", once you figured out how to do that?

> Sorry to unload on you but this is very frustrating.

I can imagine. Instead of looking for a complete solution, try taking
smaller steps. Those steps will have more in common with other
problems, and thus are more likely to be covered already.

Sybren
-- 
The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the
safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

.