linux networking

Hi ,

i am new to linux and want to setup a workgroup of linux machines so that they can browse each others file contents. Visited many sites and read about samba in detail also, but this thing just is too complicated. can somebody explain in breif / layman's language how to setup this network so as to be able to browse the other machines contents??

i am using mandrakelinux 10.0 version.

Thanks,

Mahesh

I'm no expert with Mandrake, but isn't there any setup wizard?

if all machines are running linux... have a look at setting up NFS, a server on one machine and the others as clients to read the data.

Samba is best for exporting to windows machines, NFS is better for linux - linux connections.

I know SuSE has a setup program for this, i assume mandrake probable does as well

Yup NFS, it's fairly easy to set up. :thumbsup:

Samba is great for windows shares. I had it running as a Primary Domain Controller with Roaming Profiles a while back, which was fun. Certainly cheaper than buying a Windows server OS ;)

It's been a while since I set up NFS but the idea is you set up directories to export in /etc/exports and mount them over the network on the other machines.

This guide should help: http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/NFS-HOWTO.html

You could also try your questions at linuxquestions.org. They seem to be quite helpful for me.