[Samba] authenticate to samba using email address

[mj]

Hi,

Perhaps a strange question, but is it possible to configure samba to 
accept an emailaddress as a username for authentication to a UNC network 
path?

(so: "username at domain.com" next to the standard "DOMAIN\username" or 
"username at samba.domain.com")

Some of our users access a samba UNC network path over VPN, while 
working from home. They often have difficulties remembering the correct 
username format.

If we could somehow arrange for emailaddress to work too, it would align 
samba authentication to the rest of our external logons, like websites, 
email, VPN, etc. All of those use emailaddress as a username.

We're running latest samba in AD config. The question is about access to 
a linux domain member server.

Curious.

MJ