binding to ldap with uid

[Robert Müller <robert.mueller@fourier-group.de>]

Hello list,

I'm a quite new LDAP-User. I want to use LDAP for information and
authentication purposes. OpenLDAP 2.0.23 on SuSE Linux 7.0 is running, mail
clients can access the LDAP server. Console (ssh) logins are authenticated
at the LDAP Server (pam_ldap), too. So far so good. But there are a few
questions open:
Is it possible to bind to the LDAP Server with a uid instead of the complete
dn? (this would make it easier for users connecting from outside to our
LDAP-Server) Perhaps also over PAM like the console logins?
Is it true that for authentication with pam_ldap the ACLs have to grant read
access to anonymous in the sections containing the user information? (With
ACL "search" it won't work in our current setup).

Any ideas?

Thanx,

Robert