Wiser heads:
Thanks for your thoughts.

--- In ib-support@y..., Helen Borrie <helebor@d...> wrote:
> It seems your Win 98 clients are missing an entry in their HOSTS
file. AFAIK, there is no automated tool for this - you must open it
in a text editor and add an entry like:
>
> 222.22.0.22 Rivendell #InterBase server.

The HOSTS file on my Win98 client contains the requisite entry. I
had thought--obviously erroneously--that including a reference to a
telnet session beginning "telnet rivendell" might head off that
objection.

Given the message "Failed to locate hosts machine" error that
greeted my first-listed attempt to connect the database
(rivendell:/opt/interbase/examples/employee.gdb), it sure does look
like a HOSTS problem. I had assumed that the presence of an entry in
the HOSTS file on the Win98 client would cause the machine to bypass
the gateway system ... is that not right? If not, I'll have to
doublecheck the HOSTS file on the separate Linux gateway box. (I'll
do that after getting back home after tonight's Pack meeting ... my
first as Cubmaster.)

> You cannot use NetBEUI to connect to Linux

FWIW, NetBEUI is not installed on any machine in the basement-LAN.

> Beyond that, your client login may have authorization problems on
> the Linux server.

I'm new enough to Linux that this could well be a/the problem. I
did, however, set up the "CHIP" Interbase account with the same
username and password that I use to log on to the console, in an
attempt to eliminate that variable.

Thanks again.
CHIP