[Zope] Data.fs + WebDAV vs. LocalFS + Samba

Derek Simkowiak dereks@realloc.net
Sat, 26 Jan 2002 18:20:34 -0800 (PST)


	This thread is now offtopic, please do not send further replies to
the Zope list.  But here is my [final] response on the AppleTalk thing...

-> In stead of the commercial Dave, you can use the free appletalk
-> support on linux. Don't remember the name... I shared a directory on
-> a linux server, both with SMB and by appletalk. Works great. Mail if
-> you want the details.

	We used to do this.  It's called the NetAtalk server.  We used it
for both fileservers and printservers.  It caused us a few headaches.

	For one, when we were using it (96-00), a major MacOS upgrade took
place (v.8?  v.9?  don't remember).  The NetATalk server broke, but there
was an independently-maintained patch that would work.  And then there
were the "sun" patches, which doubled the server speed and had many other
nice features.  Then there was the patch to make it work with the latest
linux kernel.  These patches had conflicts that needed to be fixed by the
admin before compiling.  No new patches were getting integrated.  No real
packages were released.  It was a poorly maintained project.

	Another annoyance was the ".AppleTalk" directories showing up to
all the Windows users.  "What's this for?  Can I delete it?" a million
times a day.

	Then there's the DEFAULT setting of "text file translation: on" on
any unrecognized filetypes.  The does the \r to \n thing--AND BREAKS any
binary file!  My friend stayed up 24 hours trying to figure out why the
Shockwave file worked great on the Mac, but was broke on the PCs.  So
there's the filemapping text file to seperately maintain and keep up.  
And the config files were not intuitive in syntax or format.

	Setting up the Printers was an all new headache, too.

	Everytime I'd add a share, or change a password, I'd have to do it 
in TWO places, not one.

	For some weird Ethernet thing, it would hang up the server at boot
for several seconds.  (A minor annoyance.)

	And all this for only a few Macs.  It's much easier to just buy a
few copies of Dave--and then all I have to worry about is the Samba
server.  And the author of "Dave" gets to write more cool software,
because he now has money to support his family, and so more time to write
cool new programs like Dave that make computers talk to each other easier,
thus increasing communication and thus, productivity.  Ha!


--Derek