On today's networks it's common to have users running Windows, Apple, Novell, and many versions of Unix. Each operating system has its own printing facility and there is little or nothing in common between them--there is no single system for print spooling. Yet all users want to be able to print, and most of the time they have to share the same printers. The network administrator has to solve this problem as efficiently as possible.O'Reilly's Network Printing shows network administrators a way out of this problem. It details how to set up a network printing system that's based on Linux, but can handle printing from Windows, Novell, Apple, and any version of Unix. To this end, it offers thorough discussions of the Unix printing facility (both LPR and LPRng); Samba's printer sharing; Netatalk, a free implementation of the AppleTalk protocol; and ncpfs, a Linux implementation of the Netware protocols. The book also shows how to get printers to boot correctly on a network, using solutions like bootp and DHCP; how to manage printers remotely using SNMP; and how to set up a network-wide printer configuration repository with LDAP.
Matthew Gast was born on the Great Plains of the Midwest, near Chicago. Living on the Great Plains, he could almost see all the way to Iowa, where he later attended Grinnell College. In college, he started two significant long term relationships. The first is with the fiercely independent Alison Burek, a musician, painter, and Renaissance woman. To the great joy of their two cats, they were married shortly after graduation. The second relationship is with Unix, initially one of Matthew's prime methods of procrastination and later the gateway to network literacy. He uses his home network to experiment with new technologies, and scares away intruders by discussing its architecture. Currently, Matthew is interested in routing, security, cryptography, and mobile communications. He now works at Nokia as a travelling technical wizard and is the resident frequent travel reward program expert. In respites between business trips, Matthew lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with Ali, who is trying to make sure he doesn't grow up before his time, an event she hopes to postpone indefinitely. Todd Radermacher has been working with computer and network technology for the past 15 years, starting with systems programmer and technologist positions at EG & G, and working with the Sandia, Livermore, and Los Alamos Laboratories. Todd moved into the commercial sector in 1994, and since then has held various technical and managerial positions with Silicon Valley startup companies, primarily focusing on data security.
