[NBLUG/talk] atalkd.conf question

[dant3]

When configuring the atalkd.conf file, one needs to do something like this:

eth0 -seed -phase 2 -net 1-3 -addr 2.4 -zone enders

So, my question is, how do I know what to put for -addr, or -net for that
matter?  I have my machine on a larger network.  I just guessed at the -addr
value. I copied the -net value from the main Linux server.  And,
incidentally, the -zone value changed from what I had originally entered to
the value that is on the main Linux server (I don't know why, and I'm
wondering if it's just my imagination and I forgot to save the file the two
or three times that I modified it).

I was hoping to use my Slackware Linux box as a print/file server for a few
Mac machines: one iMac and a couple of older machines.  That led me to want
to configure AppleTalk on the Linux machine so all of the Macs could print.
The iMac doesn't need AppleTalk to be running, but the others seem to
require it.  I could use the Desktop Printer Utility on the iMac and set up
an LPD printer, whereas the older machines don't have the Desktop Printer
Utility.

As a print server without AppleTalk, the Linux machine worked fine for my
iMac.  When I set up all of the Macs to use an AppleTalk printer, up things
froze.  The printer would only print the first line of a document.  The Mac
machines complained of a PostScript error.  On the Linux machine, there was
a growing queue of files to be printed.  I canceled the printjobs...

Wait a second...I'm rambling.

1st: How important is it to get -net and -addr "right"?  Is there a ballpark
that works?
2nd: Is there a better way than AppleTalk? (Maybe I could configure some
directory on the Linux machine to print any new file.  People accessing the
shared folder on the older Macs could save their work on the Linux file
server if they wanted their stuff printed...)
3rd: Why did -zone change from -zone one to -zone "other"?  The quotes were
added secretly behind my back by some mischievous Linux daemon, I swear.