+
+WHAT IS SMB?
+============
+
+This is a big question.
+
+The very short answer is that it is the protocol by which a lot of
+PC-related machines share files and printers and other informatiuon
+such as lists of available files and printers. Operating systems that
+support this natively include Windows NT, OS/2, and Linux and add on
+packages that achieve the same thing are available for DOS, Windows,
+VMS, Unix of all kinds, MVS, and more. Apple Macs and some Web Browsers
+can speak this protocol as well. Alternatives to SMB include
+Netware, NFS, Appletalk, Banyan Vines, Decnet etc; many of these have
+advantages but none are both public specifications and widely
+implemented in desktop machines by default.
+
+The Common Internet Filesystem (CIFS) is what the new SMB initiative
+is called. For details watch http://samba.org/cifs.
+
+
+WHY DO PEOPLE WANT TO USE SMB?
+==============================
+
+1. Many people want to integrate their Microsoft or IBM style desktop
+ machines with their Unix or VMS (etc) servers.
+
+2. Others want to integrate their Microsoft (etc) servers with Unix
+ or VMS (etc) servers. This is a different problem to integrating
+ desktop clients.
+
+3. Others want to replace protocols like NFS, DecNet and Novell NCP,
+ especially when used with PCs.
+
+