Switching to LDAP as an authentication mechanism is something that causes a bit of stress. However, it is really more flexible than traditional UNIX authentication. For example, it is really nice to be able to create accounts for a Subversion server without granting shell access (/bin/false shells are not a clean option).

Surprisingly enough, it was really easy once the right tutorial was found here at my favorite Wiki provider's

Many thanks to Andreas Gohr for this simple and complete introduction.