1<?xml version='1.0'?> 2<!DOCTYPE preface PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc"> 3<preface> 4<title>Foreword</title> 5 6<para> 7Over the last few years, the Samba project has undergone a major 8transformation. From a small project used only by people who dream in 9machine code, Samba has grown to be an integral part of the IT 10infrastructure of many businesses. Along with the growth in the 11popularity of Samba there has been a corresponding growth in the ways 12that it can be used, and a similar growth in the number of 13configuration options and the interactions between them. 14</para> 15 16<para> 17To address this increasing complexity a wealth of documentation has 18been written on Samba, including numerous HOWTOs, diagnostic tips, 19manual pages, and explanations of important pieces of technology that 20Samba relies on. While it has been gratifying to see so much 21documentation being written, the sheer volume of different types of 22documentation has proved difficult to navigate, thus reducing its 23value to system administrators trying to cope with the complexity. 24</para> 25 26<para> 27This book gathers together that wealth of information into a much more 28accessible form, to allow system administrators to quickly find what 29they need. The breadth of technical information provided ensures that 30even the most demanding administrators will find something helpful. 31</para> 32 33<para> 34I am delighted that the Samba documentation has now developed to the 35extent that it can be presented usefully as a book, and I am grateful 36for the efforts of the many people who have contributed so much 37toward this result. Enjoy! 38</para> 39 40<para> 41<simplelist> 42 <member>Andrew Tridgell</member> 43 <member><emphasis>President, Samba Team</emphasis></member> 44 <member><emphasis>July 2003</emphasis></member> 45</simplelist> 46</para> 47 48</preface> 49