🚀 go-pugleaf

I would like to get information on incompatibilities between
different vendors' NetBIOS implementations.

As I understand it, NetBIOS is defined as an API at the session
layer of the OSI model and a datagram at the data link layer of
the OSI model.  I have been told that there are two sources of
incompatibility between different vendors' implementations of the
protocol:

1) Many vendors don't follow the standard and implement NetBIOS
as an emulation of the standard on top of their own proprietary
protocols (e.g., Novell implements NetBIOS on top of IPX).

2) Many vendors don't interpret the semantics of the NetBIOS API
the same way, with the result that a NetBIOS program written for
one API does not run on other vendors' NetBIOS APIs.

My questions are:

1) Are there any articles that discuss the incompatibility issue
in more detail?

2) How much effort is involved in porting a relatively complex
NetBIOS application so that it could run under any vendor's
NetBIOS?  (At very least run under Novell, Microsoft, IBM,
Banyan, and LANTASTIC implementations.)

3) Does anyone know off-the-top which NetBIOS' cause the most
problems and why?

If I could get an e-mail or phone reference to a developer who
understands these issues in more detail I would greatly
appreciate that as well.

Thanks,
Will Estes             (apple!cup.portal.com!Will)