Summary

A network stack provides the foundation upon which common network tools (both client and server programs) are built. Programs like Netscape, sendmail, and many others discussed throughout this book must be mated to one or more network stacks, and two computers need compatible network stacks in order to communicate over a network. At the start of the twenty-first century, TCP/IP is by far the most popular network stack. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet, and is the network stack upon which most Linux networking tools are built. There are alternatives, however. In particular, AppleTalk, IPX, and NetBEUI have all been popular in the past on local networks, primarily for file- and printer-sharing tasks . Even today, these stacks all continue to be used on many small networks. Linux can use all three of them, although Linux's support for each is limited. (In the case of NetBEUI, both the Linux kernel and Samba must be patched and recompiled to use the network stack.)