So, I've configured Samba on my Linux server. I installed it as part of the setup, then I had to get it running.
I decided to get my hands dirty editing the smb.conf file directly rather than trying to get SWAT running, and it's not too bad. The documentation installed is good, and a half-useful techie will get to grips with the file share sections pretty quickly, but the point at which I came unstuck was authenticating from my XP machine.
The issue is that;
(a) you need to make sure that encypted passwords are set in smb.conf, and that
(b) you have a valid smbpasswd file for Samba to store the passwords in.
The most useful article I found is here - this makes it simple, and the critical command to output your /etc/passwd to the correct file is included.
For reference, the command is:
cat /etc/passwd | mksmbpasswd.sh > /etc/smbpasswd.

It's been a while since the Tecra has been out of it's bag, since I have had a new mac to play with :)
I reckon I'll get on with more on the laptop next year, and when I do, I plan to streamline the installation a bit. This article will probably help.
My other project is that I have just rebuilt my main PC using Red Hat 8.0, and it rocks. My plan is to use this as a server, so I will be storing data on it and using Linux remotely rather than at the console. The PC is a PII 400 with sensible RAM, so no performance worries with Gnome / Bluecurve there! (but I might well stick Window Maker on anyway, just because it's so good).
More notes on all that to follow......