[ale] Getting rid of Active Directory

[jb at sourceillustrated.com (John Wells)]

Guys,

In our server room, we're virtually Windows free, aside from a few nagging, but important, servers:

- Active Directory (permissions, authentication)
- File Server
- Email
- VPN

I have some ideas about getting rid of email and vpn, but the ActiveDirectory/File server combo is a gray area for me. The nice thing about active directory is that you can maintain file server permissions, etc, directly within the directory.

What are my Linux or *nix options in this area?

Thanks!
John