1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> 2<!DOCTYPE preface PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc"> 3 4<preface lang="en-US"> 5<title>Foreword</title> 6 7<sect1><title>By John M. Weathersby, Executive Director, OSSI</title> 8<blockquote> 9 10<para> 11The Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) is comprised of representatives from a broad spectrum of business and 12non-business organizations that share a common interest in the promotion of development and implementation 13of open source software solutions globally, and in particular within the United States of America. 14</para> 15 16<para> 17The OSSI has global affiliations with like-minded organizations. Our affiliate in the United Kingdom is the 18Open Source Consortium (OSC). Both the OSSI and the OSC share a common objective to expand the use of open source 19software in federal, state, and municipal government agencies; and in academic institutions. We represent 20businesses that provide professional support services that answer the needs of our target organizational 21information technology consumers in an effective and cost-efficient manner. 22</para> 23 24<para> 25Open source software has matured greatly over the past five years with the result that an increasing number of 26people who hold key decisionmaking positions want to know how the business model works. They 27want to understand how problems get resolved, how questions get answered, and how the development model 28is sustained. Information and communications technology directors in defense organizations, and in other 29government agencies that deal with sensitive information, want to become familiar with development road-maps 30and, in particular, seek to evaluate the track record of the mainstream open source project teams. 31</para> 32 33<para> 34Wherever the OSSI gains entrance to new opportunities we find that Microsoft Windows technologies are the 35benchmark against which open source software solutions are measured. Two open source software projects 36are key to our ability to present a structured and convincing proposition that there are alternatives 37to the incumbent proprietary means of meeting information technology needs. They are the Apache Web Server 38and Samba. 39</para> 40 41<para> 42Just as the Apache Web Server is the standard in web serving technology, Samba is the definitive standard 43for providing interoperability with UNIX systems and other non-Microsoft operating system platforms. Both 44open source applications have a truly remarkable track record that extends for more than a decade. Both have 45demonstrated the unique capacity to innovate and maintain a level of development that has not only kept 46pace with demands, but, in many areas, each project has also proven to be an industry leader. 47</para> 48 49<para> 50One of the areas in which the Samba project has demonstrated key leadership is in documentation. The OSSI 51was delighted when we saw the Samba Team, and John H. Terpstra in particular, release two amazingly 52well-written books to help Samba software users deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot Windows networking 53installations. We were concerned that, given the large volume of documentation, the challenge to maintain 54it and keep it current might prove difficult. 55</para> 56 57<para> 58This second edition of the book, <emphasis>Samba-3 by Example</emphasis>, barely one year following the release 59of the first edition, has removed all concerns and is proof that open source solutions are a compelling choice. 60The first edition was released shortly following the release of Samba version 3.0 itself, and has become 61the authoritative instrument for training and for guiding deployment. 62</para> 63 64<para> 65I am personally aware of how much effort has gone into this second edition. John Terpstra has worked with 66government bodies and with large organizations that have deployed Samba-3 since it was released. He also 67worked to ensure that this book gained community following. He asked those who have worked at the coalface 68of large and small organizations alike, to contribute their experiences. He has captured that in this book 69and has succeeded yet again. His recipe is persistence, intuition, and a high level of respect for the people 70who use Samba. 71</para> 72 73<para> 74This book is the first source you should turn to before you deploy Samba and as you are mastering its 75deployment. I am proud and excited to be associated in a small way with such a useful tool. This book has 76reached maturity that is demonstrated by reiteration that every step in deployment must be validated. 77This book makes it easy to succeed, and difficult to fail, to gain a stable network environment. 78</para> 79 80<para> 81I recommend this book for use by all IT managers and network administrators. 82</para> 83 84</blockquote> 85 86</sect1> 87 88</preface> 89