What's Holding Linux Back?

Windows Networking Compatibility

This concern is really no longer valid, providing that Microsoft does not make any substantial moves to purposefully alter NTFS to be incompatible. The Samba project has been one of the biggest successes of the entire Linux community, and is one of the very best examples of how you can use Linux to augment your existing infrastructure. Samba supports high levels of user security, all of the key functions of various file systems and seems to cause little trouble in the area of compatibility.

If I do have one particular complaint, it is that Samba should be easier to implement in every single distribution. Corel Linux had a great implementation, allowing for the user to configure the basics in a simple, easy to read dialog box. Once that information was entered and approved, Corel did all the work of activating Samba and mounting network resources automatically. The user did not have to do any further modifications. Drive resources were clearly broken out into individual icons, with no need to go to the MNT folder to reach specific drives. They were labeled with familiar letters like "C, D, E", etc. so that Windows users would be able to understand their order. Further, the right-button context menus had an option for "Sharing" resources, just like Windows users would expect.

Corel Linux was by no means the be-all, end-all, but in terms of getting Windows users to feel comfortable working with Samba, it did a fantastic job. It would be nice to see a standard KDE based configuration and activation screen, for example, that would be made available to every single distribution out there. Present a single dialog box, have the user type in the workgroup name, select security options (if any are needed) and have a single button that when clicked, will take care of every single thing needed to get Samba up and running, including the installation of any necessary libraries, activation of the various Daemons, the whole nine yards.

One of the best ways to showcase Linux and get it to be accepted in corporations, small businesses and even home networks is to make the integration with existing networks seamless and basically idiot-proof. Making your Linux box a part of any consumer or corporate based network should be one of the easiest tasks that users need face in Linux, and if a standard can be implemented, it can only help to facilitate the adoption of Linux.