Hah. No, not so.
We tried it. FreeBSD NIS servers, Debian workstation. Didn't work. I don't remember details, but something in NIS involves syncing pieces of the filesystem. The two OSes put things in different places, or have a different file format in a few files or something.
Wade.
Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers?
A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.