The OSDL (Open Source Development Labs) has hired its second “Fellow.” The fellowship will enable Samba developer Andrew Tridgell, PhD, to work full-time on the next major release of Samba, a widely used suite enabling Windows to be replaced with Linux and other operating systems on file- and print-servers.

(Click for larger view of Andrew Tridgell)

Samba is a suite of programs, licensed under the GPL, that is mainly used to avail Windows clients of access to a server's filespace and printers using the SMB (server message block) and CIFS (common internet file system) protocols. Tridgell first released Samba in January, 1992, as an SMB server for Unix. Today, the technology supports most enterprise operating systems, and has millions of users.

Tridgell is currently working on version 4 of Samba, the goals of which are protocol completeness, extreme testability, non-POSIX backends, fully asynchronous internals, and flexible process models.

Tridgell said, “Samba4 is reaching an important milestone as a complete re-write of the old Samba code with the ambitious goal to be able to become an Active Directory Domain Controller. I'm excited about my new role with OSDL, and being free to dedicate my energies full-time to Samba.”

OSDL CEO Stuart Cohen said, “Samba has long been one of the most important open source projects. We're pleased to have a developer of Andrew's stature join the Lab, and that we can dedicate our resources to helping him continue his contributions to the Samba project.”

Tridgell has previously worked in research and engineering roles at IBM, VA Software, Linuxcare, and Quantum, and is a visiting fellow at Australian National University.

 
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