Samba-3 by Example would not have been written except as a result of feedback provided by reviewers of the book The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide. I hope this book more than answers the challenge and fills the void that was brought to my attention.

I am deeply indebted to a large group of diligent people. Space prevents me from listing all of them, but a few stand out as worthy of mention. Jelmer Vernooij made the notable contribution of building the XML production environment and thereby made possible the typesetting of this book.

Samba would not have come into existence if Andrew Tridgell had not taken the first steps. He continues to lead the project. Under the shadow of his mantle are some great guys who never give up and are always ready to help. Thank you to: Jeremy Allison, Jerry Carter, Andrew Bartlett, Jelmer Vernooij, Alexander Bokovoy, Volker Lendecke, and other team members who answered my continuous stream of questions all of which resulted in improved content in this book.

My heartfelt thanks go out also to a small set of reviewers (alphabetically listed) who gave substantial feedback and significant suggestions for improvement: Roland Gruber, Luke Howard, Jon Johnston, Alan Munter, Tarjei Huse, Mike MacIsaac, Scott Mann, Ed Riddle, Santos Soler, Mark Taylor, and Jérôme Tournier.

My appreciation is extended to a team of over 30 additional reviewers who helped me to find my way around dark corners.

Particular mention is due to Lyndell, Amos and Melissa who gave me the latitude necessary to spend nearly a entire year writing Samba documentation.