It’s happened. My significant other has finally moved her laptop into my home. She’s running Windows 95, however, and wants to connect to my Linux machine to make use of our printer and the larger hard disks. I have both the Applix and StarOffice suites installed, so I can import and export Word and other Microsoft files, which she can use in Windows. Her office PC is able to share disks and printers and files on the company’s network, but can we do the same thing on my home network?
It’s happened. My significant other has finally moved her laptop into my home. She’s running Windows 95, however, and wants to connect to my Linux machine to make use of our printer and the larger hard disks. I have both the Applix and StarOffice suites installed, so I can import and export Word and other Microsoft files, which she can use in Windows. Her office PC is able to share disks and printers and files on the company’s network, but can we do the same thing on my home network?
Open source software to the rescue! All we need to do is install and configure Samba, a file- and print-sharing system available for Linux.
Samba Overview
Samba is a very comprehensive suite of programs that allow a variety of operating systems to communicate with one another. You need to have computers networked together to use it. If you don’t have a network, then you won’t be able to do much with Samba.
Administrators of large-scale networks use Samba to connect hundreds of Unix systems with hundreds of Windows and other types of workstations. A number of excellent books are dedicated to the intricacies of Samba, but we can cover the basics here — enough to get you started by connecting a Linux system, a Windows system, and a shared printer into your own home-based mini-network.
Samba uses Microsoft’s Server Message Block, or SMB protocol. SMB originated in the 1980s and was later adopted and extended…
Please log in to view this content.
Not Yet a Member?
Register with LinuxMagazine.com and get free access to the entire archive, including:
