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5 <title>Foreword</title>
7 <sect1><title>By Dan Kusnetzky, IDC</title>
10 Dan Kusnetzky, Vice President System Software Research, International Data Corporation
14 IDC's software research group has been conducting research on the market for software,
15 including operating environments, for over twenty years. In 1994, the system software
16 research team started to field questions from its subscribers on Linux. We had very
17 little empirical data to offer when these queries first were heard, so IDC added Linux
18 to its operating environment research agenda. The first demand and supply side research
19 containing IDC's findings on Linux started to appear in early 1995.
23 IDC has watched as Linux marched from being software for computer hobbyists to being
24 a mainstream choice in many markets worldwide. This march is very similar to the adoption
25 cycle UNIX experienced in the 1970s and 1980s. Windows repeated this pattern of adoption
26 during the 1980s and 1990s. IDC has long projected that Linux would be a mainstream
27 choice in nearly all markets by the end of 2005. The software is well down that path
28 now and just might beat IDC's projections.
32 As of the end of 2002, Linux was the number three desktop or client operating environment,
33 responsible for nearly 3% of the worldwide shipments of client operating environment
34 software. Linux was the number two server operating environment, responsible for nearly
35 25% of the worldwide shipments of server operating environment software. This is an amazing
36 level of growth from its rather humble beginnings of holding less than 1% share of either
37 client or server operating environment market when IDC first started publishing its findings
42 IDC's demand-side studies have indicated that Linux is most often utilized as a platform
43 for basic infrastructure services, such as supporting access to shared files and printers
44 or supporting basic networking functions. IDC's most recent survey, conducted in late 2003,
45 indicated that supporting file and print services was the most common use of Linux. Samba
46 and NFS are the most commonly mentioned approaches to offering file and print services on
51 Nearly all of IDC's operating environment studies have shown that Linux is being added
52 into organizational networks that already include Windows, UNIX, and mainframe operating
53 environments. This, of course, means that interoperability with these operating environments
54 is a crucial success factor for Linux.
58 All of this leads to the book in hand, <emphasis>Samba-3 By Example</emphasis>, by John H. Terpstra, It addresses
59 the most commonly heard questions about bringing Linux and Samba into a Windows or UNIX
60 focused environment. Namely, organizations voice concerns about staff having sufficient
61 levels of expertise to facilitate development, administration, operations and support activities
62 around the adoption of Linux and Samba. I expect <emphasis>Samba-3</emphasis> by Example will be of enormous help
63 to Windows or UNIX administrators hoping to gain a level of comfort and familiarity with both
68 Samba is a mature open source software product that is well established as a leading Windows
69 file and print technology in use on large-scale UNIX systems. Its stability and scalability
70 appears to be well respected. This book demonstrates easy approaches to implementing Samba-3
71 no matter whether your network is large or small. It is a book that would make a fine addition
72 to the network administrators' library!
79 <title>By Andrew Tridgell, Samba Team</title>
81 <blockquote><attribution>
82 Andrew Tridgell, President, Samba Team
86 I've always been the sort of computer user that learns best by
87 example. Seeing a complete example matching a real-world use of a
88 piece of software gives me an understanding of that software far
89 better than reading detailed manuals. If, like me, you are the sort of
90 computer user that learns best by example then this book is for you.
94 I was also delighted to see the use of ethereal to illustrate the
95 network protocols used by Samba. Ethereal has developed into a very
96 sophisticated network analysis tool, and familiarity with using
97 ethereal is a very useful skill for any system administrator.
101 Enjoy this book, and make the most of Samba!