Non-Windows Clients Working Behind MS Proxy?

ikekrull asks: "I am, like many, stuck behind an MS Proxy Server 2 'firewall'. MS Proxy Server 2, refuses to route anything that doesn't go through a Windows-only MS Proxy Client. Supposedly it supports SOCKS5, but I have heard from various people that this support is also broken except for Windows clients. Is there a way, short of replacing the MS Proxy server with something a little more sane, to make non-Windows Operating Systems work behind this 'firewall'? Can I run another piece of proxying software alongside Proxy Server 2 just to service my Linux machines?"

"Has anyone reverse-engineered the MS Proxy client and made a version that works with Linux? Would it be possible to run the windows proxy client under WINE (very doubtful i know). I would ideally like seamless access, the kind i get with my ipchains-based Linux box at home, but something that let me surf the Web, ftp, and telnet and SSH around would be ok.

I am real pissed off with the way that MS Proxy Server 2 has been deliberately engineered to work only with Windows clients, I didn't notice this mentioned in the anti-trust case, but it sure as hell should be.

Any help would be appreciated."

If Microsoft expects their server OS to be used as servers in heterogeneous environments, they really should start look at supporting clients that aren't Microsoft. Would it really be all that difficult?