On 12/7/05, Bryan J. Smith <thebs413 at earthlink.net> wrote: > Samba has supported PDC/BDC functionality since 2.0, replication > compatibility with native NT 4.0 PDC/BDCs as of 2.2+ (i.e., be a BDC to > a native NT 4.0 PDC, or a PDC with native NT 4.0 BDCs). I don't think that that Samba can serve as a PDC to NT 4.0 BDCs (or vice versa); the HOWTO says it's impossible, and the 2.2 release notes make no mention of it. > It can _replace_ a native W2K ADS DC as of Samba 3.0, or be its "bitch" > -- i.e., a "member server" in a native W2K ADS domain. It can't, > however, be a peer DC to a native W2K ADS DC, and it probably never > will, at least completely. This is incorrect. Samba 3.0 cannot be a native ADS DC; that feature will be added in Samba 4. > ADS then offers MS-Kerberos for authentication and a sprawling set of > schema and, more incompatibly, arbitrary Win32 services integrated with > it. It's because of that latter fact that you will probably _never_ be > able to use Samba as a DC to various servers that require native Windows > W2K ADS (e.g., SQL Server, Exchange, etc...). Another advantage of ADS/change in ADS relative to NT 4.0 is that it uses DNS rather than NetBIOS name resolution and lets you get rid of NetBIOS completely if you wish. > However, Samba-CUPS SMB-IPP integration can be very, very powerful, > including not only the ability to automatically install drivers, but set > _proper_ configurations of the printers from the centralized CUPS > interface. I.e., when all your printers are Postscript with their own, > rich PPD (Postscript Printer Definition) files (or CUPS provides a rich > Postscript PPD for a non-PS printer), you can pre-configure the printer > and set the defaults for print-queues and they will be set for your > Windows users -- all from the CUPS web interface. > > E.g., you can configure the memory size, various tray options, etc... > just *1* time, then those configurations are set in the printer settings > on every Windows client. That way you don't have to go around and do it > manually on Windows clients or, worse yet, your users dork with the > settings. Can't you do the same thing using raw printing, by configuring the printer in Windows? Josh Kelley