[Samba] Clients dynamically allocate WINS server

[Johnny Shih]

Hello guys,

I have been running a server (running RH 7.3) with WINS support for 
quite some time and it works well.  I am seeing that once Windows 
clients (Windows XP) are connected to the server, the wins.dat in the 
server gets updated where the clients IP etc being added.   Even the 
server's IP has been changed (for example, the machine is moved and 
connected to a different network with a different WINS server), the 
clients still automatically find and talk to that WINS server and have 
themselves registered.

However, the linux clients do not seem to be so smart(?), my finding is 
that "wins server" has to be specified so the client's samba will then 
talk to the WINS server and therefore get registered.  This becomes very 
inconvenient if the linux machnes (e.g. laptops) are used/connected to 
different networks where WINS servers' IPs are different or even 
unknown.  I am wondering, how does Windows (act as a WINS client) do 
that?  Can linux running Samba dynamically find WINS server without 
having to specify it in "wins server"?

Thanks
Any help is much appreciated.

Johnny