The open source project that lets Unix/Linux machines be part of Windows Network Neighborhood.
That this exists at all is amazing enough, given that Microsoft doesn't willingly tell anyone how SMB works and deliberately goes out of their way to break any attempt to clone it. But that it works so well, sometimes even better than Microsoft itself, well, that's just wonderful.
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More Articles by Tony Lawrence © 2011-07-07 Tony Lawrence
C++ is a badly designed and ugly language. It would be a shame to use it in Emacs. (Richard Stallman)
"That this exists at all is amazing enough, given that Microsoft doesn't willingly tell anyone how SMB works and deliberately goes out of their way to break any attempt to clone it."
I think Microsoft's useless attempts to break Samba have pretty much stopped. Given the suspicious eye constantly cast upon them by the Department of Justice and others, they probably don't want to give the appearance of being monopolists -- which, of course, they are.
As for how SMB works, credit should be given where credit is due. It's true that much of Samba was developed by reverse engineering the SMB protocol and for that we have to thank Tridge. However, in a draft RFC submitted to IETF to get SMB (or CFIS -- take your pick) ratified as some kind of Internet standard, Microsoft released quite a bit of information about SMB that they probably now wish they hadn't.
"But that it works so well, sometimes even better than Microsoft itself, well, that's just wonderful."
Goes to show what happens when you pay more attention to substance than style.
See also https://aplawrence.com/Unixart/bbsambanetwork.html
--BigDumbDinosaur
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SAMBA Copyright © March 2004 Tony Lawrence
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