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author | Samba Release Account <samba-bugs@samba.org> | 1996-05-04 07:50:46 +0000 |
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committer | Samba Release Account <samba-bugs@samba.org> | 1996-05-04 07:50:46 +0000 |
commit | 0db2ec0e94c6849202a2aa6e9965bfef0acb4e7a (patch) | |
tree | a07fdef481e206a89917895bd3dbe2eda0f25ee3 /docs/history | |
parent | ce9f59147274357ef0ab7ae968564fb804430cdc (diff) | |
parent | 0e8fd3398771da2f016d72830179507f3edda51b (diff) | |
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This commit was generated by cvs2svn to compensate for changes in r4,
which included commits to RCS files with non-trunk default branches.
(This used to be commit c8a46aca039f16b00bcd177ac2bb9962fdfff529)
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/history')
-rw-r--r-- | docs/history | 165 |
1 files changed, 165 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/history b/docs/history new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..83761e23b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/history @@ -0,0 +1,165 @@ +Note: This file is now quite out of date - but perhaps that's +appropriate? + + +========= + +This is a short history of this project. It's not supposed to be +comprehensive, just enough so that new users can get a feel for where +this project has come from and maybe where it's going to. + +The whole thing really started in December 1991. I was (and still am) +a PhD student in the Computer Sciences Laboratory at the Australian +Netional University, in Canberra, Australia. We had just got a +beta copy of eXcursion from Digital, and I was testing it on my PC. At +this stage I was a MS-DOS user, dabbling in windows. + +eXcursion ran (at the time) only with Dec's `Pathworks' network for +DOS. I had up till then been using PC-NFS to connect to our local sun +workstations, and was reasonably happy with it. In order to run +pathworks I had to stop using PC-NFS and try using pathworks to mount +disk space. Unfortunately pathworks was only available for digital +workstations running VMS or Ultrix so I couldn't mount from the suns +anymore. + +I had access to a a decstation 3100 running Ultrix that I used to +administer, and I got the crazy notion that the protocol that +pathworks used to talk to ultrix couldn't be that hard, and maybe I +could work it out. I had never written a network program before, and +certainly didn't know what a socket was. + +In a few days, after looking at some example code for sockets, I +discovered it was pretty easy to write a program to "spy" on the file +sharing protocol. I wrote and installed this program (the sockspy.c +program supplied with this package) and captured everything that the +pathworks client said to the pathworks server. + +I then tried writing short C programs (using Turbo C under DOS) to do +simple file operations on the network drive (open, read, cd etc) and +looked at the packets that the server and client exchanged. From this +I worked out what some of the bytes in the packets meant, and started +to write my own program to do the same thing on a sun. + +After a day or so more I had my first successes and actually managed +to get a connection and to read a file. From there it was all +downhill, and a week later I was happily (if a little unreliably) +mounting disk space from a sun to my PC running pathworks. The server +code had a lot of `magic' values in it, which seemed to be always +present with the ultrix server. It was not till 2 years later that I +found out what all these values meant. + +Anyway, I thought other people might be interested in what I had done, +so I asked a few people at uni, and noone seemed much interested. I +also spoke to a person at Digital in Canberra (the person who had +organised a beta test of eXcursion) and asked if I could distribute +what I'd done, or was it illegal. It was then that I first heard the +word "netbios" when he told me that he thought it was all covered by a +spec of some sort (the netbios spec) and thus what I'd done was not +only legal, but silly. + +I found the netbios spec after asking around a bit (the RFC1001 and +RFC1002 specs) and found they looked nothing like what I'd written, so +I thought maybe the Digital person was mistaken. I didn't realise RFCs +referred to the name negotiation and packet encapsulation over TCP/IP, +and what I'd written was really a SMB implementation. + +Anyway, he encouraged me to release it so I put out "Server 0.1" in +January 1992. I got quite a good response from people wanting to use +pathworks with non-digital unix workstations, and I soon fixed a few +bugs, and released "Server 0.5" closely followed by "Server 1.0". All +three releases came out within about a month of each other. + +At this point I got an X Terminal on my desk, and I no longer needed eXcursion +and I prompty forgot about the whole project, apart from a few people +who e-mailed me occasionally about it. + +Nearly two years then passed with just occasional e-mails asking about +new versions and bugs. I even added a note to the ftp site asking for +a volunteer to take over the code as I no longer used it. No one +volunteered. + +During this time I did hear from a couple of people who said it should +be possible to use my code with Lanmanager, but I never got any +definite confirmation. + +One e-mail I got about the code did, however, make an impression. It +was from Dan Shearer at the university of South Australia, and he said +this: + + + I heard a hint about a free Pathworks server for Unix in the + Net channel of the Linux list. After quite a bit of chasing + (and lots of interested followups from other Linux people) I + got hold of a release news article from you, posted in Jan 92, + from someone in the UK. + + Can you tell me what the latest status is? I think you might + suddenly find a whole lot of interested hackers in the Linux + world at least, which is a place where things tend to happen + fast (and even some reliable code gets written, BION!) + +I asked him what Linux was, and he told me it was a free Unix for PCs. +This was in November 1992 and a few months later I was a Linux +convert! I still didn't need a pathworks server though, so I didn't do +the port, but I think Dan did. + +At about this time I got an e-mail from Digital, from a person working +on the Alpha software distribution. He asked if I would mind if they +included my server with the "contributed" cd-rom. This was a bit of a +shock to me as I never expected Dec to ask me if they could use my +code! I wrote back saying it was OK, but never heard from him again. I +don't know if it went on the cd-rom. + +Anyway, the next big event was in December 1993, when Dan again sent +me an e-mail saying my server had "raised it's ugly head" on +comp.protocols.tcpip.ibmpc. I had a quick look on the group, and was +surprised to see that there were people interested in this thing. + +At this time a person from our computer center offered me a couple of +cheap ethernet cards (3c505s for $15 each) and coincidentially someone +announced on one of the Linux channels that he had written a 3c505 +driver for Linux. I bought the cards, hacked the driver a little and +setup a home network between my wifes PC and my Linux box. I then +needed some way to connect the two, and I didn't own PC-NFS at home, +so I thought maybe my server could be useful. On the newsgroup among +the discussions of my server someone had mentioned that there was a +free client that might work with my server that Microsoft had put up +for ftp. I downloaded it and found to my surprise that it worked first +time with my `pathworks' server! + +Well, I then did a bit of hacking, asked around a bit and found (I +think from Dan) that the spec I needed was for the "SMB" protocol, and +that it was available via ftp. I grabbed it and started removing all +those ugly constants from the code, now that all was explained. + +On December 1st 1993 I announced the start of the "Netbios for Unix" +project, seeding the mailing list with all the people who had e-mailed +me over the years asking about the server. + +About 35 versions (and two months) later I wrote a short history of +the project, which you have just read. There are now over a hundred +people on the mailing list, and lots of people report that they use +the code and like it. In a few days I will be announcing the release +of version 1.6 to some of the more popular (and relevant) newsgroups. + + +Andrew Tridgell +6th February 1994 + +--------------------- + +It is now May 1995 and there are about 1400 people on the mailing +list. I got downloads from the main Samba ftp site from around 5000 +unique hosts in a two month period. There are several mirror +sites as well. The current version number is 1.9.13. + +--------------------- + + +--------------------- +It's now March 1996 and version 1.9.16alpha1 has just been +released. There have been lots of changes recently with master browser +support and the ability to do domain logons etc. Samba has also been +ported to OS/2, the amiga and NetWare. There are now 3000 people on +the samba mailing list. +--------------------- |