[Samba] New Samba PDC for medium-sized mixed client domain

[Andy Shaw]

Hi all,

I've recently inherited sysadmin duties for what is currently a 
badly-networked hodgepodge of Windows XP and 7 machines (currently about 
50, but slowly growing). I would like to tie them to a domain, and we 
have a separate requirement for a common staff fileshare. We have a 
third-party contractor quoting later this week for what I suspect will 
be a Windows Server based network, and I would like to be able to 
propose a Samba-based alternative. I have used Samba before personally, 
but only for providing fileshares, never for authentication. Is Samba 3 
suitable for the role I have in mind, or would I need Samba 4? Can 
someone give me the current state of play for Samba 4? I understand from 
the wiki that it is not generally recommended for production use, though 
it would appear that some people are running it thus - can anyone give 
me an indication of its stability?

Additionally, I would also like to be able to reduce licence fee costs 
by using Linux-based workstations for new staff members whenever 
possible. Can someone point me towards a decent howto or tutorial for 
joining a Linux client to a Samba domain? All the examples I've seen 
seem to be for connecting Windows to a Samba DC, or Linux to a Windows DC.

Many thanks.

-Andy Shaw