WINS Replication ... Is a non-MS scheme acceptable

[Richard Sharpe]

In digging through the Samba-Bugs list, I came across this remarkable message.
Remarkable, that is, in light of the need of some people for WINS replication.

Here is an extract.

>>     The main feature Samba still lacks in is WINS replication capability.
>> So we made a decision to try to donate it to the Samba community. Patch
>> itself and README file with short instructions on how to apply it are
>> attached here. We tried to keep the code as clear as we can making the
>> minimal changes to the 1.9.18p2 source code and moving all new functions to
>> a new file to Samba source tree - nmbd_winsneighbors.c 
>> 
>>     Patch included here introduces WINS replication between patched Samba
>> 1.9.18p2 servers located anywhere you can send udp to.
>> 
>>     New parameters to smb.conf:
>> 
>>     wins neighbors = a.b.c.d  a.x.y.z     /* list of Samba servers to
>> 					     replicate to */
>>     wins sync interval = 300		  /* time interval between two
>> 					     consecutive replications */
>> 

[Rest deleted]

Now, the question is, do those people who have expressed a need for WINS
replication need is that badly, that a non-MS compatible scheme would be
acceptable?

Is it worth investing some effort in making the supplied patch work against
2.0.2?


Regards
-------
Richard Sharpe, sharpe at ns.aus.com, NIC-Handle:RJS96
NS Computer Software and Services P/L, 
Ph: +61-8-8281-0063, FAX: +61-8-8250-2080, 
Samba (Team member), Linux, Apache, Digital UNIX, AIX, C, ...