[Samba] Read the Docs

Eric Hines
Sat, 07 May 2005 18:40:55 -0000

John,

This isn't entirely fair.  There are three kinds of newbies, and I'll
say
for the purposes of this thread that newbies also may be new to Linux/UNIX,
not just to Samba: the first kind is lazy and goes running for help at the
drop of a bug and doesn't bother to read the docs first.  This kind
deserves your rant.  The second kind doesn't know documentation
exists--they don't deserve your rant; they need only a pointer to the
docs--as you provided below, in addition.  The third kind has read the docs
and still has a problem, else they wouldn't be on the mailing list looking
for help.  We don't deserve your rant, either.  And we've read the docs
despite what seem to be a high error rate in them that confuses the
diagnostic outcomes.  (For instance, in Chapt 1 of the HOWTO, on connecting
to a Remote SMB Client, we're told to run "net use d:
\\servername\service.  When I do that, I simply get the error back that the
local device is already in use.  Of course--d: is a logical partition on my
PC.  I have to figure out that you meant "d:" to be generic, in the
same
spirit as "servername."  Maybe I should have recognized that a priori,
but
I didn't.  Newbies make mistakes like that.  In the Samba Checklist, Step
4, we're told to run "nmblookup - B BIGSERVER_SAMBA_."  This seems
to have
two typos in it, yet as a newbie, I'm unsure.  Using - B (with the space)
just has nmblookup look for the IP address of the machine B, also, which,
of course it cannot find.  Or were we supposed to use "-B" -- without
the
space?  But then to what broadcast address, as that's what that switch
calls for?  Or is "nmblookup - servername" what was truly meant?  And
the
_SAMBA_ suffix appended to our server's name means that that machine cannot
be found by nmblookup, either--unless someone actually has appended that
suffix to their machine name.  the "- B", "-B",
"-" confusion is repeated
throughout the checklist.  Further, in step 6, we're told to try
"nmblookup
- d 2 '*' ".  This leads to further error, as nmblookup cannot find
either
machine d or 2.  It turns out we're supposed to use "-d" (no
space).)

For all that, we in this third kind of newbie, get lumped in with the first
kind, and our problems get utterly ignored.  It's true enough that
you're
all volunteers, helping out in addition to your day jobs, and really your
efforts are appreciated a great deal.  But most of us newbies are trying to
learn this stuff, also in addition to our own day jobs.

Or are we on the wrong mailing lists?  If there are other Samba mailing
lists intended for newbies, please point us there.

</rant>

Eric Hines

At 05/06/05 10:08, you wrote:
>Jon,
>
>Please, please use the resources we provide before posting questions like
>this. Did you read the book "Samba-3 by Example" before you asked
your
>questions  here? I think you will find a fully working solution in chapter
3.
>
>The latest version (still being edited) can be downloaded from:
>http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/Samba-Guide.pdf
>
>Note: The book uses SUSE Linux as its reference base so you will beed to
>adjust pathes and Samba binary names according to the way Mandrake have
named
>the binary files .
>
>- John T.
>
><snip>
>--
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Out of the argument with ourselves comes poetry, out of the argument with
others comes politics.
         --Yeats