1<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>Chapter�1.�General Information</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="samba.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.2"><link rel="home" href="samba-faq.html" title="Samba FAQ"><link rel="up" href="samba-faq.html" title="Samba FAQ"><link rel="previous" href="samba-faq.html" title="Samba FAQ"><link rel="next" href="FAQ-Install.html" title="Chapter�2.�Compiling and installing Samba on a Unix host"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter�1.�General Information</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="samba-faq.html">Prev</a>�</td><th width="60%" align="center">�</th><td width="20%" align="right">�<a accesskey="n" href="FAQ-Install.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="FAQ-general"></a>Chapter�1.�General Information</h2></div></div><div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><a href="FAQ-general.html#id2818696">What do the version numbers mean?</a></dt><dt><a href="FAQ-general.html#id2871088">What platforms are supported?</a></dt><dt><a href="FAQ-general.html#id2819633">How do I subscribe to the Samba Mailing Lists?</a></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2818696"></a>What do the version numbers mean?</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p> 2It is not recommended that you run a version of Samba with the word 3"alpha" in its name unless you know what you are doing and are willing 4to do some debugging. Many, many people just get the latest 5recommended stable release version and are happy. If you are brave, by 6all means take the plunge and help with the testing and development - 7but don't install it on your departmental server. Samba is typically 8very stable and safe, and this is mostly due to the policy of many 9public releases. 10</p><p> 11How the scheme works: 12</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>When major changes are made the version number is increased. For 13example, the transition from 1.9.15 to 1.9.16. However, this version 14number will not appear immediately and people should continue to use 151.9.15 for production systems (see next point.)</td></tr><tr><td>Just after major changes are made the software is considered 16unstable, and a series of alpha releases are distributed, for example 171.9.16alpha1. These are for testing by those who know what they are 18doing. The "alpha" in the filename will hopefully scare off those who 19are just looking for the latest version to install.</td></tr><tr><td>When the release manager, currently Jerry, thinks that the alphas have stabilised to the point 20where he would recommend new users install it, he renames it to the 21same version number without the alpha, for example 1.9.16.</td></tr><tr><td>Inevitably bugs are found in the "stable" releases and minor patch 22levels are released which give us the pXX series, for example 1.9.16p2.</td></tr></table><p> 23</p><p> 24So the progression goes: 25 26</p><pre class="programlisting"> 271.9.15p7 (production) 281.9.15p8 (production) 291.9.16alpha1 (test sites only) 30: 311.9.16alpha20 (test sites only) 321.9.16 (production) 331.9.16p1 (production) 34</pre><p> 35</p><p> 36The above system means that whenever someone looks at the samba ftp 37site they will be able to grab the highest numbered release without an 38alpha in the name and be sure of getting the current recommended 39version. 40</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2871088"></a>What platforms are supported?</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p> 41Many different platforms have run Samba successfully. The platforms 42most widely used and thus best tested are Linux and SunOS.</p><p> 43At time of writing, there is support (or has been support for in earlier 44versions): 45</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td>A/UX 3.0</td></tr><tr><td>AIX</td></tr><tr><td>Altos Series 386/1000</td></tr><tr><td>Amiga</td></tr><tr><td>Apollo Domain/OS sr10.3</td></tr><tr><td>BSDI </td></tr><tr><td>B.O.S. (Bull Operating System)</td></tr><tr><td>Cray, Unicos 8.0</td></tr><tr><td>Convex</td></tr><tr><td>DGUX. </td></tr><tr><td>DNIX.</td></tr><tr><td>FreeBSD</td></tr><tr><td>HP-UX</td></tr><tr><td>Intergraph. </td></tr><tr><td>Linux with/without shadow passwords and quota</td></tr><tr><td>LYNX 2.3.0</td></tr><tr><td>MachTen (a unix like system for Macintoshes)</td></tr><tr><td>Motorola 88xxx/9xx range of machines</td></tr><tr><td>NetBSD</td></tr><tr><td>NEXTSTEP Release 2.X, 3.0 and greater (including OPENSTEP for Mach).</td></tr><tr><td>OS/2 using EMX 0.9b</td></tr><tr><td>OSF1</td></tr><tr><td>QNX 4.22</td></tr><tr><td>RiscIX. </td></tr><tr><td>RISCOs 5.0B</td></tr><tr><td>SEQUENT. </td></tr><tr><td>SCO (including: 3.2v2, European dist., OpenServer 5)</td></tr><tr><td>SGI.</td></tr><tr><td>SMP_DC.OSx v1.1-94c079 on Pyramid S series</td></tr><tr><td>SONY NEWS, NEWS-OS (4.2.x and 6.1.x)</td></tr><tr><td>SUNOS 4</td></tr><tr><td>SUNOS 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 (Solaris 2.2, 2.3, and '2.4 and later')</td></tr><tr><td>Sunsoft ISC SVR3V4</td></tr><tr><td>SVR4</td></tr><tr><td>System V with some berkely extensions (Motorola 88k R32V3.2).</td></tr><tr><td>ULTRIX.</td></tr><tr><td>UNIXWARE</td></tr><tr><td>UXP/DS</td></tr></table></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2819633"></a>How do I subscribe to the Samba Mailing Lists?</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p> 46Look at <a href="http://samba.org/samba/archives.html" target="_top">the samba mailing list page</a> 47</p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="samba-faq.html">Prev</a>�</td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="samba-faq.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right">�<a accesskey="n" href="FAQ-Install.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Samba FAQ�</td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="samba-faq.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top">�Chapter�2.�Compiling and installing Samba on a Unix host</td></tr></table></div></body></html> 48