The Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) is comprised of representatives from a broad spectrum of business and non-business organizations that share a common interest in the promotion of development and implementation of open source software solutions globally, and in particular within the United States of America.

The OSSI has global affiliations with like-minded organizations. Our affiliate in the United Kingdom is the Open Source Consortium (OSC). Both the OSSI and the OSC share a common objective to expand the use of open source software in federal, state, and municipal government agencies; and in academic institutions. We represent businesses that provide professional support services that answer the needs of our target organizational information technology consumers in an effective and cost-efficient manner.

Open source software has matured greatly over the past five years with the result that an increasing number of people who hold key decisionmaking positions want to know how the business model works. They want to understand how problems get resolved, how questions get answered, and how the development model is sustained. Information and communications technology directors in defense organizations, and in other government agencies that deal with sensitive information, want to become familiar with development road-maps and, in particular, seek to evaluate the track record of the mainstream open source project teams.

Wherever the OSSI gains entrance to new opportunities we find that Microsoft Windows technologies are the benchmark against which open source software solutions are measured. Two open source software projects are key to our ability to present a structured and convincing proposition that there are alternatives to the incumbent proprietary means of meeting information technology needs. They are the Apache Web Server and Samba.

Just as the Apache Web Server is the standard in web serving technology, Samba is the definitive standard for providing interoperability with UNIX systems and other non-Microsoft operating system platforms. Both open source applications have a truly remarkable track record that extends for more than a decade. Both have demonstrated the unique capacity to innovate and maintain a level of development that has not only kept pace with demands, but, in many areas, each project has also proven to be an industry leader.

One of the areas in which the Samba project has demonstrated key leadership is in documentation. The OSSI was delighted when we saw the Samba Team, and John H. Terpstra in particular, release two amazingly well-written books to help Samba software users deploy, maintain, and troubleshoot Windows networking installations. We were concerned that, given the large volume of documentation, the challenge to maintain it and keep it current might prove difficult.

This second edition of the book, Samba-3 by Example, barely one year following the release of the first edition, has removed all concerns and is proof that open source solutions are a compelling choice. The first edition was released shortly following the release of Samba version 3.0 itself, and has become the authoritative instrument for training and for guiding deployment.

I am personally aware of how much effort has gone into this second edition. John Terpstra has worked with government bodies and with large organizations that have deployed Samba-3 since it was released. He also worked to ensure that this book gained community following. He asked those who have worked at the coalface of large and small organizations alike, to contribute their experiences. He has captured that in this book and has succeeded yet again. His recipe is persistence, intuition, and a high level of respect for the people who use Samba.

This book is the first source you should turn to before you deploy Samba and as you are mastering its deployment. I am proud and excited to be associated in a small way with such a useful tool. This book has reached maturity that is demonstrated by reiteration that every step in deployment must be validated. This book makes it easy to succeed, and difficult to fail, to gain a stable network environment.

I recommend this book for use by all IT managers and network administrators.