The latest article on O'Reilly Network discusses one of the very few remaining enterprise components missing from Linux. In particular, the author discusses Linux's inability to interact with Microsoft's Active Directory services, as well as the lack of a good, uniform set of directory services available for Linux in general.
Now, I know most Linux advocates will say "Big deal, I can do everything I need with OpenLDAP." Well, the sad truth is, while you may be able to do everything you need with it, OpenLDAP, unfortunately, does not provide all of the features a business needs. My own company, for example, uses Active Directory to control all user authentication, permissions, remote shares, and much more. Being the good little Linux advocate that I am, I've been trying to get Linux in the door at my company. However, being able to logon and authorize against the directory service is an absolute must, and so far I've been unable to do so. Now, how in can I push for Linux on the desktop when I can't even login properly?
This is something that I really hope gets rectified soon. I'm sure the capability is there (for Active Directory authentication, at the very least), but it needs to be made much more accessible to the end user before it's useful to anyone. I know I'm anxiously looking forward to that day.
For more information, please read the full article.