Filesystem .... .... .... Capacity Mounted on
/dev/disk0s10 .. 53% /
devfs 100% /dev
fdesc 100% /dev
100% /.vol
automount -nsl [370] 100% /Network
automount -fstab [373] 100% /automount/Servers
automount -static [373] 100% /automount/static
//AJ@COOKIE/USERS 43% /Volumes/users
I know that the directory I want is /Volumes -> users -> someusername -> sourcedirectory, so the ln command I used was:
ln -s /Volumes/users/someusername/importantdirectory \
/Users/usershome/Desktop/importantdirectory-shortcut
This puts a link named importantdirectory-shortcut on the user's desktop that takes them to /Volumes -> users -> someusersname -> importantdirectory. OpenOffice, understands and follows this link. This works well because /Volumes -> users -> someusername is always mounted from the server, because OS X understand the directives from Active Directory to mount network drives when someone logs in. I extended this use of links to the user's Mail.app support directory under the user's Library folder, too.
I set up the user with her mail account. Then I quit Mail.app. I then went to /Users -> someusername -> Library. In that directory is a folder named Mail. I used the Finder to drag and drop a copy to her Windows share at /Volumes -> users -> someusername. I renamed the ~someusername -> Library -> Mail directory to "save.Mail" for safekeeping, and then, once again, made a symbolic link using:
ln -s /Volumes/users/someusername/Mail /Users/someusername/Library/Mail
This now puts a link in the Library folder to the network folder. Voila, if her Mac craps out for some reason, all her email is still saved on the network and available from another Mac, in an emergency. The added benefit is that the server gets backed up every evening.
I am thinking about moving her complete /Users -> someusername -> Library directory to the server. What would be really cool if someone who is more familiar with login hooks could help me do this automatically for all users who log in.
[robg adds: An earlier hint (the comments, in particular) has further discussion on the differences between symbolic links and aliases...]

