Topic: Workgroup sharing

[Gerald Jansen]

I believe this subject was addressed sometime ago. Possibly under the old BB system. I believe that it was stated that "workgroup" file sharing would be supported in the next release. My question is when is that anticipated? In the mean time has anyone come up with a work around?  I must be able to allow members of a specific workgroup the ability to access shared folders. Not being able to do so negates the effectiveness of the e-smith server so drastically that I will be forced into installing a NT server to do the job. That would be a waste of money and resources and put me in a very bad light with my client. Thank you for your timely reply.

Best Regards,

Jerry

[Joseph Morrison]

Hello Gerald,

> I believe this subject was addressed sometime ago. Possibly
> under the old BB system. I believe that it was stated that
> "workgroup" file sharing would be supported in the
> next release. My question is when is that anticipated?

We have a policy at e-smith of not publishing release dates in advance. A new release will be published within a few months, but at this time we cannot make a firmer commitment than that.

> In the mean time has anyone come up with a work around?

There are contributed RPMs that provide a groups capability, but they are tricky to install and we do not support them at e-smith. There is one on our ftp site written by Ip, Tak Hong, and we will soon be putting up another RPM from Charlie Brady which incorporates Ip, Tak Hong's changes and some others. If you decide to try these, I'm afraid it will be at your own risk; we do not support anything other than the standard e-smith release.

> I must be
> able to allow members of a specific workgroup the ability to
> access shared folders.

Yes, you have made this point many times!  The message has been received clearly, and we agree with you that this capability is essential.

> Not being able to do so negates the
> effectiveness of the e-smith server so drastically that I will
> be forced into installing a NT server to do the job. That would
> be a waste of money and resources and put me in a very bad
> light with my client. Thank you for your timely reply.

We have pretty clearly stated the feature set of our product on our web site and in our documentation. Also, in the four months between release 2 and release 3 of our product, we added a huge number of new features. Release 3 has only been out for one month so far. We are moving quickly, and are listening to requests such as yours. But it's vital to us that we take the time to do a good job. When we do release our next version, you can rest assured that it will have a groups capability which is well thought out and well tested.

Thanks for your patience, and we hope to have better news for your soon!

Best regards,
- Joe Morrison

[Gerald Jansen]

You folks are doing a great job. Just wanted you to know I appreciate it and don't wish to appear as being pushy. Patience is truely a virtue.

Jerry

[Kim Morrison]

Gerald,

Thanks for your support and suggestions.

Kim