Microsoft Gives Samba 4 Active Directory: Is Microsoft Killing Its Strong Hold on Business?

In what was probably the quietest announcement of a major game-changing software package in the history of the Internet, Samba 4 will be released very soon, to the massive detriment of Microsoft. One Samba application is already making waves, and is about to take out Microsoft's Windows Server - the one application that Microsoft held its business domination together with - and it will die a slow death.

Anyone with a business network of any kind knows that Microsoft was the network to have on both the front and back end using Windows Desktop and Windows servers; Microsoft is business, period. Nevertheless, just as Microsoft is slowly failing in the smartphone world, the company is about to fail in the business world. Google has already started taking over business, dwindling Microsoft's dominance, and with Samba 4 in play, Microsoft's dominance will dwindle even more.

Introducing Samba 4

Do you remember the Resara Server - Community Edition? Well, Resara is a viable replacement for Microsoft's Windows Server already running Samba 4, in its Alpha version, although Beta is not far behind. What Samba is, is a replacement of Microsoft's network server and Active Directory functions, "Linux Style," which, on Linux networks, were separate functions altogether. Enter Samba 4; it allows Windows users to join the network by authenticating on the acting Active Directory Server.

What is Open Source?

Samba 4 is open source. The definition of open source contains a few different parts to the whole. First, it means free distribution, meaning that the source code is free, or, more specifically, according to the Open Source Initiative, "The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale." Additionally, any program or software using open source code must contain the source code and make it available, prominently displaying the option to download the source code from the Internet. The OS Initiative prefers that it be made available free of charge, but a small download fee can be charged if necessary.

An open source license also allows for derived works, meaning that someone can modify the source code in any way he or she sees fit, so long as the finished work is also made available with an open source license. Additionally, everyone who receives a copy of a program using the source code, or receives the original source code must receive the same exact license as any other person, no discrimination is allowed.

What Does this All Mean?

TO put it simply, what Samba and Open Source means to businesses is that they never have to pay for server software again. While many businesses are used to paying Microsoft Corporation tens of thousands of dollars to manage their business servers and networks, if these businesses were to switch to Samba 4 instead, they can save those tens of thousands of dollars by never having to pay for the services, servers, or licenses ever again. Well, with the exception of paying an IT person to maintain and run the software, which is something businesses typically do anyway.

This also means that, as is the Open Source way, a community edition of the software is also available, which is a full-service, fully functional software package that is free to use. While many people forego the beauty of open source software because of its lack of support, in the community editions of open source software, the support comes from the user community as well as the Samba 4 documentation, also freely available.

The End is coming

The release of Samba 4 means the end of Microsoft is coming much sooner than anticipated. Because businesses and network administrators will finally be offered a choice in server software, Microsoft no longer has the lead on the one thing that kept the company in the game, which also means that Microsoft Exchange - the server that runs Outlook - will also die off, and all because Microsoft is playing nice with the makers of Samba.

Because Microsoft decided to allow the Samba 4 development teams to use the Active Directory and Windows Server code to boost the release schedule, Microsoft is essentially killing itself. This code was the one thing that kept Microsoft on top and allowed the company to live as the dominant one. While no one will see any changes in fewer than two or three years, the change will come.

Linux is already taking over other parts of the Microsoft world; Linux's MySQL replaced Microsoft's SQL Server, Apache replaced Microsoft Web Server, and now, Samba will replace Active directory, and Ubuntu, one of the more popular Linux Desktop versions, is gaining ground in the desktop community and starting to replace Windows. None of this really makes any sense, but Microsoft is doing it anyway; Open Source to the rescue of wallets everywhere.

Sources:

"Open Source Definition (Annotated)," The Open Source Initiative
"Resera Server Features," Resara
"Community Support," Resara
"Active Directory comes to Linux with Samba 4," Computerworld
"Samba and Active Directory," Samba Wiki