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diff --git a/README b/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..e6634febc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README @@ -0,0 +1,225 @@ +This is the release version of Samba, the free SMB and CIFS client and +server for UNIX and other operating systems. Samba is maintained by +the Samba Team, who support the original author, Andrew Tridgell. + +>>>> Please read THE WHOLE of this file as it gives important information +>>>> about the configuration and use of Samba. + +NOTE: Installation instructions may be found in + docs/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/install.html + +This software is freely distributable under the GNU public license, a +copy of which you should have received with this software (in a file +called COPYING). + + +WHAT IS SMB/CIFS? +================= + +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 information +such as lists of available files and printers. Operating systems that +support this natively include Windows 9x, Windows NT (and derivatives), +OS/2, Mac OS X and Linux. Add on packages that achieve the same +thing are available for DOS, Windows 3.1, VMS, Unix of all kinds, +MVS, and more. Some Web Browsers can speak this protocol as well +(smb://). 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 File system (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 desktop clients + with their Unix servers. + +2. Others want to integrate their Microsoft (etc) servers with Unix + 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. + + +WHAT CAN SAMBA DO? +================== + +Please refer to the WHATSNEW.txt included with this README for +a list of features in the latest Samba release. + +Here is a very short list of what samba includes, and what it does. +For many networks this can be simply summarized by "Samba provides +a complete replacement for Windows NT, Warp, NFS or Netware servers." + +- a SMB server, to provide Windows NT and LAN Manager-style file and print + services to SMB clients such as Windows 95, Warp Server, smbfs and others. + +- a Windows NT 4.0 Domain Controller replacement. + +- a file/print server that can act as a member of a Windows NT 4.0 + or Active Directory domain. + +- a NetBIOS (rfc1001/1002) nameserver, which amongst other things gives + browsing support. Samba can be the master browser on your LAN if you wish. + +- a ftp-like SMB client so you can access PC resources (disks and + printers) from UNIX, Netware, and other operating systems + +- a tar extension to the client for backing up PCs + +- limited command-line tool that supports some of the NT administrative + functionality, which can be used on Samba, NT workstation and NT server. + +For a much better overview have a look at the web site at +http://samba.org/samba, and browse the user survey. + +Related packages include: + +- smbfs, a Linux-only filesystem allowing you to mount remote SMB +filesystems from PCs on your Linux box. This is included as standard with +Linux 2.0 and later. + +- cifsvfs, a more advanced Linux-only filesystem allowing you to mount +remote SMB filesystems from PCs on your Linux box. This is included +as standard with Linux 2.5 and later. + + + +CONTRIBUTIONS +============= + +If you want to contribute to the development of the software then +please join the mailing list. The Samba team accepts patches +(preferably in "diff -u" format, see http://samba.org/samba/devel/ +for more details) and are always glad to receive feedback or +suggestions to the address samba@lists.samba.org. More information +on the various Samba mailing lists can be found at http://lists.samba.org/. + +You can also get the Samba sourcecode straight from the git repository - see +http://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Using_Git_for_Samba_Development. + +You could also send hardware/software/money/jewelry or pre-paid pizza +vouchers directly to Andrew. The pizza vouchers would be especially +welcome, in fact there is a special field in the survey for people who +have paid up their pizza :-) + +If you like a particular feature then look through the git change-log +(on the web at http://gitweb.samba.org/?p=samba.git;a=summary) and see +who added it, then send them an email. + +Remember that free software of this kind lives or dies by the response +we get. If no one tells us they like it then we'll probably move onto +something else. However, as you can see from the user survey quite a lot of +people do seem to like it at the moment :-) + + +MORE INFO +========= + +DOCUMENTATION +------------- + +There is quite a bit of documentation included with the package, +including man pages, and lots of .html files with hints and useful +info. This is also available from the web page. There is a growing +collection of information under docs/. + +A list of Samba documentation in languages other than English is +available on the web page. + +If you would like to help with the documentation, please coodinate +on the samba@samba.org mailing list. See the next section for details +on subscribing to samba mailing lists. + + +MAILING LIST +------------ + +Please do NOT send subscription/unsubscription requests to the lists! + +There is a mailing list for discussion of Samba. For details go to +<http://lists.samba.org/> or send mail to <samba-subscribe@lists.samba.org> + +There is also an announcement mailing list where new versions are +announced. To subscribe go to <http://lists.samba.org/> or send mail +to <samba-announce-subscribe@lists.samba.org>. All announcements also +go to the samba list, so you only need to be on one. + +For details of other Samba mailing lists and for access to archives, see +<http://lists.samba.org/> + + +MAILING LIST ETIQUETTE +---------------------- + +A few tips when submitting to this or any mailing list. + +1. Make your subject short and descriptive. Avoid the words "help" or + "Samba" in the subject. The readers of this list already know that + a) you need help, and b) you are writing about samba (of course, + you may need to distinguish between Samba PDC and other file + sharing software). Avoid phrases such as "what is" and "how do + i". Some good subject lines might look like "Slow response with + Excel files" or "Migrating from Samba PDC to NT PDC". + +2. If you include the original message in your reply, trim it so that + only the relevant lines, enough to establish context, are + included. Chances are (since this is a mailing list) we've already + read the original message. + +3. Trim irrelevant headers from the original message in your + reply. All we need to see is a) From, b) Date, and c) Subject. We + don't even really need the Subject, if you haven't changed + it. Better yet is to just preface the original message with "On + [date] [someone] wrote:". + +4. Please don't reply to or argue about spam, spam filters or viruses + on any Samba lists. We do have a spam filtering system that is + working quite well thank you very much but occasionally unwanted + messages slip through. Deal with it. + +5. Never say "Me too." It doesn't help anyone solve the + problem. Instead, if you ARE having the same problem, give more + information. Have you seen something that the other writer hasn't + mentioned, which may be helpful? + +6. If you ask about a problem, then come up with the solution on your + own or through another source, by all means post it. Someone else + may have the same problem and is waiting for an answer, but never + hears of it. + +7. Give as much *relevant* information as possible such as Samba + release number, OS, kernel version, etc... + +8. RTFM. Google. groups.google.com. + + +NEWS GROUP +---------- + +You might also like to look at the usenet news group comp.protocols.smb +as it often contains lots of useful info and is frequented by lots of +Samba users. The newsgroup was initially setup by people on the Samba +mailing list. It is not, however, exclusive to Samba, it is a forum for +discussing the SMB protocol (which Samba implements). The samba list +is gatewayed to this newsgroup. + + +WEB SITE +-------- + +A Samba WWW site has been setup with lots of useful info. Connect to: + +http://samba.org/samba/ + +As well as general information and documentation, this also has searchable +archives of the mailing list and a user survey that shows who else is using +this package. Have you registered with the survey yet? :-) + |