January, 2005

NFS (Network File System) is an old Unix technology that enables a machine to mount a remote file system. This is desirable for centralized authentication, as the user can access the same home directory no matter which machine he uses.

Server

Install NFS server:
apt-get install nfs-kernel-server

Edit /etc/exports, put in lines such as

/home *.dept.school.edu(rw,no_subtree_check)

to export directories to allow machines on local network have access to /home and its subdirectories.

Start the server:

/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start

Ok, what is centralized authentication? Why bother? Well, if each person in your home or organization uses her/his own computer only, no need for this. However, if you or your organization have a bunch of machines and people need to login to different machines at different times, you've got a problem. Do you want to setup an account for each person on each machine? What about people's files? People would like to have access to their files no matter where they login. For this kind of environment, centralized authentication is the way to go.

I have been using Borland programming environment since 1994, beginning with its Turbo C 2.0, then Borland C++, and now JBuilder. This company has always produced programmer friendly products. Comparing with other products, Borland's offering are always the most natural, and the easiest to get the job done. At least to me.
Well, I mostly do Java programming these days. I have used all sorts of Java IDEs over the years. VisualCafe, VisualAge, NetBean, Eclipse, and so on. At the end, I still decided to settle on the tried -and-true Borland product: JBuilder.