About the Cover Artwork
The cover artwork of this book continues the freedom theme of the first
edition of Samba-3 by Example
. The history of civilization
demonstrates the fragile nature of freedom. It can be lost in a moment,
and once lost, the cost of recovering liberty can be incredible. The last
edition cover featured Alfred the Great who liberated England from the
constant assault of Vikings and Norsemen. Events in England that
finally liberated the common people came about in small steps, but
the result should not be under-estimated. Today, as always, freedom and
liberty are seldom appreciated until they are lost. If we can not quantify
what is the value of freedom, we shall be little motivated to protect it.
Samba-3 by Example Cover Artwork: The British houses
of parliament are a symbol of the Westminster system of government. This form
of government permits the people to govern themselves at the lowest level, yet
it provides for courts of appeal that are designed to protect freedom and to
hold back all forces of tyranny. The clock is a pertinent symbol of the
importance of time and place.
The information technology industry is being challenged by the imposition of
new laws, hostile litigation, and the imposition of significant constraint
of practice that threatens to remove the freedom to develop and deploy open
source software solutions. Samba is a software solution that epitomizes freedom
of choice in network interoperability for Microsoft Windows clients.
I hope you will take the time needed to deploy it well, and that you may realize
the greatest benefits that may be obtained. You are free to use it in ways never
considered, but in doing so there may be some obstacles. Every obstacle that is
overcome adds to the freedom you can enjoy. Use Samba well, and it will serve
you well.