Chapter 26: Using Linux Servers from a Mac

Overview

In the old days (like, a couple of years ago), you had to make Linux look like a file and printer server on an AppleTalk network in order to use a Linux server from an Apple Mac. While that is still true with an older Mac (OS 8 or 9), if you have a new iMac with OS X, the whole world changes. That's because Mac OS X is a lot like Linux on the inside.

This chapter is for people who have (or want to have) Macs on their desktops and Linux as their servers. It covers a variety of server types that you can set up in Linux, then access from a Mac OS 8, OS 9, or OS X operating system. In particular:

• For Mac desktop users — The chapter describes how users can access shared resources from their Linux servers.

• For system administrators — The chapter explains how to set up an AppleTalk server in Linux using the netatalk software package. (Chapters 17 through 25 describe how to configure other types of native Linux servers that you can access from your Mac computers.)

I wrote this chapter in response to several readers of earlier editions of this book who wanted to replace their Windows servers with Linux servers. I hope this chapter will help start them, and you, on the road to taking full advantage of powerful networked Linux features from your easy-to-use Mac desktops.