11	Sharing Files and
	Printers in a
Technique	Windows World

Save Time By

Using SWAT to configure Samba

Getting Linux files from Windows

Getting to your Linux printers from Windows

Using Windows data from Linux

Most networks sport an assortment of computers. A few Linux machines, a couple of Windows machines, and a Mac or two are combined to create a network that is fast, versatile, and user

friendly. We’re not trying to suggest that Linux isn’t the best thing since sliced bread, but in reality, a complete conversion to a Linux-only network isn’t always possible. Sometimes, the Penguin just has to learn how to get along with Windows.

The need to share data across a network is nothing new, but with more networks being made up of assorted machines, the open-source software movement has grown to include a lot of excellent (and might we add, free) software that knows how to deal with data sharing — programs that let you share data and hardware across your network painlessly and fast.

In this technique, we show you how to share data and printers across your network. Saving time, saving money . . . all in all, creating a friendlier world.

What Is Samba?

Most people think of the Brazilian dance when they hear the word samba. We prefer to think of the triplochiton scleroxylon (commonly known as the Samba tree), a west African tree having axillary cymose panicles. We have no idea what a cymose panicle is, axillary or otherwise.

In the Linux world, Samba is a suite of resource-sharing utilities included in most Linux distributions. You use Samba to share Linux file systems, directories, files, and printers with other hosts on your network. Samba is designed specifically to work with the Microsoft Windows file-sharing and printer-sharing features. Two hosts are involved in every Samba connection: The server makes a resource available to clients, and the client accesses the resource shared by a server. A Linux host can act as a client, as a server, or as both.