general newbie security/configuration question

[Todd, Chris]

Forgive me if these questions are inappropriate for this list.

I have a 3 computer home network, with one box running Linux as a firewall
(IPChains/IP Masq; two NICs, one connected to ADSL modem, other connected to
an ethernet hub), and one dual boot Linux/Win98 box and a third Win98 only
box, both of which have NICs connected to the ethernet hub.

I would like to be able to share files and a printer between the two windows
boxes.  From what I've read, this sounds like a job for Samba.  My
questions, however, are these:

1)  If I have configured my firewall correctly/securely, can I forgo Samba
and just enable file and print sharing on the Windows boxes?  Is this
secure?

2)  How secure would it be to run the Samba server on the Linux firewall
box?  Wouldn't running Samba expose port 139 for possible attacks?  Can this
be easily secured by IPChains (say by creating a rule to deny all requests
to port 139 not from the internal network)?

3)  (This probably isn't directly related to Samba, but relevant to my file
sharing needs)  Is it possible to set up the paritions on my dual boot box
so that all partitions are always visible, regardless of which OS happens to
be booted at the time?  Would I need Samba for this, or do I need to alter
something in my Linux/Windows configuration (fyi, I have Caldera OL2.3 with
Partition Magic and Boot Magic...could I use PM or BM to allow all
partitions to be viewed regardless of OS?).

Again, forgive me for asking such newbie questions, but I have had
difficulty finding answers to such apparently simple questions, even in the
"Teach yourself Samba in 24 Hours" book.

Regards,
Chris Todd
todd at neurosci.bns.pitt.edu