Mounting samba 2.2.7a from Linux read-write hazardous

[Ben Armstrong]

Hi,

I'm helping Rod Regier here at Dymaxion to evaluate Samba 2.2.7a.  After
an extensive debugging/testing period we have finally "flipped the
switch" this morning and changed over from Pathworks V to Samba on our
main Alpha/VMS server.

The very first problem I noticed was quite alarming, so I thought I'd
drop a note here in case anyone else has a similar system.  When I use
Linux 2.4.20 + smbfs 2.999+3.0.alpha21-5 (Debian "unstable" release -
note, quite "bleeding edge") to mount a drive from the Alpha/VMS Samba
2.2.7a server, the mere act of reading files can change the file type,
leading to corruption of the data when viewed or edited.  The original
file type was Sequential, Variable, Carriage return carriage control. 
The type gets munged from Variable to Stream.  The file doesn't merely
look incorrect on the Linux client, it is actually modified on the
server.  When I modify the file attributes to restore it to Variable,
the file no longer looks corrupted.

My workaround is to mount the Samba shares read-only.

I cannot reproduce this problem from a W2K workstation.

I have not yet ruled out a smbfs bug, but it is perhaps interesting to
note that I have had many months of trouble-free operation of smbfs
(even using 2.999+3.0.alpha21) until the switch from Pathworks V to
Samba 2.2.7a.

I will be first downgrading smbfs to see if this is only a bug in my
bleeding-edge version on not.  Any other suggestions would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Ben
-- 
      Ben Armstrong                -.       Medianet Development Group,
      BArmstrong at dymaxion.ca         `-.    Dymaxion Research Limited
      <URL: http://www.dymaxion.ca/>    `-  Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada