Will I be able to connect to my windows network at work?

[xanc]

Let me explain what I'd like to do. I'm going to be putting gentoo onto a laptop that i will be bringing with me to work. My number 1 concern is internet access, with network drive and printer access on the backburner.

At work, our workstations are windows 2k/xp and require that we logon the computer with a network username and password. It authenticates with a windows server i assume, then loads the desktop, and runs a few scripts. Will i be able to connect my linux computer into the network there? What will be required? Samba? Will i need samba to get an internet connection through my work network?

I'd like some foresight before i jump into this, so at least i have an idea what i'm in for. I'd say i'm moderately experienced with linux, using it on and off for the past 5 years, but never for long periods of time because i end up finding something i can't get working in linux so i resort back to windows.

[massctrl]

I'm running gentoo on my portable in a windows environment and everything works for me. Of course i'm talking about an out-of-the-box installation.
Answering your post in detail is allmost impossible
Here are some tips:

Install gentoo
Install gnome or kde using the gentoo how-to's
You need samba to access windows shares
You don't need samba to access internet
Look into CUPS for printing
install Rdesktop this way you can connect to your local terminal server (provided your company has one)

Make sure you have enough linux knowledge before you dive into this, otherwise you'll get frustrated.

[xanc]

thats basically what i was looking for. I wasn't sure if windows servers somehow restricted the network access to a username/password.. or if it would just restrict me from drives/printers without a username/password.

I'll have to give a try and see if i can dhcp an IP from the network i suppose.

I'm not going to be using gnome or KDE if i don't have to, i prefer fluxbox. Are gnome/kde libs required for samba?

[LordBug]

Samba is it's own beast

You may want to look into CIFS for accessing network shares. From initial reading it appears to be more robust than Samba. Never tried it though (not yet anyway).

DHCP won't require you to login. It's just communication between your network card and the DHCP server.

The only restrictions I foresee are what drives and printers you have access to. Should be able to access anything you can via Windows, and nothing more. Those are based on login credentials, and login servers usually don't give a fig about what operating system is supplying them.