Yes, it CAN be done. And it's quite easy once you figure it out! It's all done with SAMBA (AKA SMB). (It's best to try this first logged in as ROOT)

Here's how:

1) Edit your /etc/lmhosts file on the Linux box - put in the name and IP address of the NT Server in it.

2) Create an EMPTY directory under /mnt for the mount point. It can be named anything, it doesn't have to match anything on the NT side, this just sets how you will reference the NT Share from Linux.

Such as: MKDIR /mnt/NTShare

3) Say you have a share on the NT Server (Let's call the server NTSERVER for this example) called SHARE (Original, huh?). This is typically reference in NT as \\NTSERVER\SHARE (Probably Duh, but just in case you didn't know)
The domain name is DOMAIN and your user ID in that domain is JOE. (And we are assuming that Joe has permissions on the NT Share!)

The command to link (I gotta start thinking in Linux terms, which would use MOUNT instead Link) the /mnt/NTShare mount point to the \\NTSERVER\SHARE share location is:

smbmount \\\\NTSERVER\\SHARE -c 'mount /mnt/NTShare' -W DOMAIN -U JOE

It should then ask you for the password for the NT user account JOE. Type that in and then it will complete the mount if all goes well!! (Don't panic if it takes a while, I've had it take up to 20 seconds for it to get everything linked/mounted/whatever)

4) That's all there is to it!

[If you want a non-Root user to have access, then you have to change the permissions for the /mnt/NTShare directory (before mounting the NT share) to allow the normal user or group to have the desired permissions to the /mnt/NTShare directory.]

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Now, if anyone can explain to me how to do the opposite: Linking to a shared folder on a Linux Server. I've heard it can be done, but I do not know how.

One thing that has thrown me for a loop getting into Linux is how the heck to install these compressed archived (Think ZIPped files in NT)???!!

Even worse, some of them are GZ'd (GNU-Zipped) and then contain nothing but a TAR file. I am still so new to this, that it seems kinda stupid. Why TAR and GZ all together?? Oh well, I know how to work with them if I don't understand why...

Imagine you have one of these files. Pretend that it is called WeirdThing004.gz

To extract it, type the following:

gunzip WeirdThing004.gz; tar -xvf WeirdThing004

This will unZip the GZ and then unTar the extracted contents. (This is one of the real nice things Linux has on NT - you can have multiple commands on one line - just separate them with a semicolon!!)

Typically you will have a RunME or Setup file inside the newly extracted contents. Run that to install it. (It's up to you to figure out what to actually do with the mess of files you just extracted, it doesn't seem to be de facto standardized like NT is with setup.exe to install things) Also not that Linux is kind weird about running program: even if you are in the proper directory (folder) that the executable file is located in, you still have to put "./" in front of the file to get it to run. Once again, I have no idea why, yet another stupid-seeming tweak of Linux.

For example, if you are in the directory with a program called CoolGame, you need to type the following to get it to run:

./CoolGame

I have no idea WTF is with that, but it'll sure save you some headscratching if you know that ahead of time! :)

Here's one short, really annoyingly hard-to-find command:

ln

The 'ln' command is used to create a symbolic link to another file or directory. The closest thing Windows NT has to it is creating a desktop shortcut to a file or directory. However, 'ln' has a bit more power (I won't go into that part, just type 'man ln' to learn more)

That's all pretty simple, and I can tell that all you experienced Linux people are shaking their heads at this and saying "Like, duh, ya big moron..."

Here's why I am putting this here:

• Get any doc/web page/whatever about how to compile/recompile the Linux kernel. Note that they ALWAYS mention creating a Symbolic Link to a Linuzxxx directory, so that you can then change back to the old if you screw up the compile.

• Get your little install book that came with your Linux install (If you bought it at a store)

• Get a big fat book on Linux. (I went out and bought RedHat Linux: Unleashed)

Note that they ALL talk about Symbolic Links as if they're no big deal and everyone has them (Right next to their opinion, right?)... Also note that there is NOWHERE that tells you how to make a damn Symbolic Link!!! It'll tell you about why you would make one, and where you would make one, but never HOW you would make one! (Linux authors take note of that!!)

RH Linux: Unleashed - It's pathetically hilarious about this (I gotta tell ya about this one...)

OK, in the Index in the back of the book (Always a great place to go in any technical book) it lists Symbolic Link, says see page 643. Cool, so I flip to page 643. This drops me in the Glossary. It has the entry Link, Symbolic. It says:

Directory entry that provides an alias to another file that can be in another filesystem. Multiple entries appear in the directory for one physical file without replication of the contents. Implemented through link files; see also link file.

I look at Link File. It says:

File used to implement a symbolic link producing an alias on one filesystem for a file on another. The file contains only the fully qualified filename of the original (linked-to) file.

There is also an entry for "Link, Soft" which says to see "Link, Symbolic"... (Great help there... Not!)

Nowhere in the whole darn book does it mention that 'ln' is used to actually create these darn link files!  After learning from finally asking someone else about how to create a symbolic link, I finally find "ln" at least listed under "File Utilities" on page 352, but that's it. Only a list of the file utility commands (such as ln, cp, rm, mkdir, etc). However, it is NEVER defined.

For lack of this little command, it's very hard to do much advanced stuff in Linux. It kinda reminds me of that story about "for lack of a nail, the kingdom fell"

Oh well, hope this helps somebody out there! :)

While you have to pay outrageous bucks to get the Terminal Server version of NT which allows simultaneous multiple desktops (aka people) on an NT Server at one time, Linux comes with everything you need - for Free!

This is done by exporting the X (some incorrectly call it X-Window, but it's real name is XFree86) display to another machine. This can be done simultaneously for multiple users, essentially giving you the same type of functionality as a Windows NT Terminal Server gives you.

That machine that you export the display to can be another Linux box (including a low-end box that is only fit to display what is processed on the Linux server box) or you can get an X Client for even an NT machine. Of course, since it is running on Windows, it will (guess what) cost you money! I guess there is a free Win32 X client out there, but it is pretty sketchy and will not support something like a full KDE desktop on it. (If I am wrong, PLEASE let me know!)

I am going to present the steps on how to do this from my configuration (A Windows 98 box with Hummingbird's Exceed X Client) connecting to my Linux server which I have the KDE Window Manager (think desktop environment/GUI on NT/9x) installed. If your configuration is different, the basic export command will remain the same, but starting your X client and starting your window manager is up to you.

1) Use a telnet client to telnet to the linux server. Get logged in.

2) Start your X client. It should open to a blank desktop.

3) The next step is to export your display. This tells Linux to begin expecting a connection from an X client. The command is:

export DISPLAY=:0.0

for example:

export DISPLAY=interregnum:0.0

or

export DISPLAY=10.10.10.10:0.0

(Nothing happens on your X client at this point, it runs the command then returns to the command prompt in the telnet window)

3) Now, to actually get everything working, start your window manager (KDE in this case). In the telnet window, type:

KDE

Now you will begin to see something happen. Sometimes you'll get messages about your X Client not supporting certain things - don't panic, just click OK.

After 20 - 30 seconds, your desktop should be fully displayed and you will have a full X session on your remote client!

Use your X client for as long as you want. When you finally log off, you will need to return to your telnet session (remember that?) and actually log yourself fully off of the Linux Server.

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If all goes well it's as easy as that above!

All kinds of info about SAMBA. Lots of cross-platform integration info. Include info about connecting Linux -> NT, NT -> Linux, Linux -> OS/2, Linux -> VMS, Linux -> Solaris, and connecting between all kinds of other platforms that support SMB.