There is no file sharing utopia. SMB has the same requirements on Unix/Linux that it has on Windows. You MUST have the necessary services, utilities, and protocols installed and running, to work. There is no shortcut to that.
If you were to sit for a CCNE exam and were asked to diagram the simplest possible network to do peer-to-peer file sharing on a LAN, What would you create?
On Unix/Linux, sharing is natively done using NFS. On M$, this is done with SMB. Neither of these are PnP, or automatic. They have minimum requirements on the network administration level.
How would you connect? Would you use IP addresses? Would you use hostnames? Would you use MAC ID's?
Would you use hosts files or DNS for name resolution on your lan? Whould you use NetBios for name resolution?
For P2P file sharing should you even be using DHCP/hostname resolution? What is the latency of doing that? What if multiple puppy instances have identical hostnames because user hasn't changed the default names? What does the DHCP resolver do with that?
FACT: The ONLY way to achieve consistent, instantaneous P2P connectivity on a LAN is via the tried and true Static IP + hosts file (kiss) method (and you don't really need the hosts file). That is basic TCP/IP networking. All IT server clusters/data centers use this methodology. It takes less sysadmin time/maintenance that any other possible option. I am a CCNE+MCSE, and when it comes to UFOS (Unix Flavored Operating Systems) P2P networks, this is how I roll.
For the intrepid among you, you could install a DNS (bind) server on your LAN and add the static names & IP's of the various network devices/computers, and use simple name resolution to accomplish your tasks by listing the LAN DNS server IP in your DHCP server DNS list. This would reduce maintenance to a single point. Some Gateway routers even offer a DNS service. But see, even if you installed a DNS resolver for your LAN, it would still break your network if the resolver goes down.
Answer: The simplest IP network for P2P file sharing only needs static IP addresses on the same subnet and a hub/switch. No gateway. No DNS. Not even a router.
(BTW, can you even buy a "hub" anymore?
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