Aaron deRozario wrote:
>
> Thanks Steve
>
> I have joined the extensive list of people you have generously shared your
> knowledge with.
>
> I was aware of the Mandrake 486 issue and am planning to use RH 5.2 or 6.0.
>
> Another question - if I have a 486 machine with compatible soundcard, can a
> programme running on the server feed its audio output to the 486 client?
I know it's possible using esound (the sound server used by GNOME). I
don't know if kaudioserver (used by KDE) is able to do it.
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Steve Philp [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 12:27 PM
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Re: [newbie] Server & 'dumb' clients
> >
> > Aaron deRozario wrote:
> > >
> > > Thank you all for your advice - I am looking at MuLinux and VNC at the
> > > moment. In my current setup I have a 1gig hard drive that currently
> > holds
> > > an unused Win95. I am thinking of getting rid of this and using it for
> > > Linux instead. I am thinking of perhaps installing this drive on one of
> > the
> > > 486's.
> >
> > Please remember that Mandrake doesn't run on 486's. Just a warning so
> > you're not frustrated when you can't get it to work!
> >
> > > There is one aspect that I am not sure I completely understand - the
> > > question is probably more academic than anything else - but I'm always
> > eager
> > > to learn more. Can X-windows be used to display information from a
> > > programme that is being run on a remote machine? Could the 486, using
> > X,
> > > just display the graphical information of Applix, being run on the
> > server?
> > > >From the responses I am presuming the answer is yes. Is this so?
> > (sorry I
> > > am a newbie)
> >
> > Yes, of course. I previously owned an old Sun 3/50 machine. Not much
> > was ever going to run very well on that machine, so I used it just as a
> > display for applications that ran on my more powerful Linux machine.
> > All in all, it was a nice setup until the 19" monitor blew up like the
> > 4th of July!
> >
> > > The potential practical application is the GF and I are forever wanting
> > to
> > > type letters/assignments/etc at the same time - the old 486 could then
> > be
> > > useful.
> > >
> > > We can play networked games of Civ - CTP (this is her idea - she
> > believes
> > > she can kick my arse) - the old 486 could then be fun.
> > >
> > > Does the same server/client principal work for SVGAlib (maybe leading to
> > > networked Quake sessions one day in the future)?
> >
> > That's a completely different thing at that point. You run a quake
> > server on the Linux machine, then connect to it with Quake clients. The
> > SVGAlib version on the 486 and the X version on the larger machine.
> >
> > > If I can use the 486 to run remote applications would I need to use a
> > 100Mbs
> > > network or will 10 suffice?
> >
> > The only thing that will be coming over the network is just display
> > information. You should be fine with 10.
> >
> > > When operating like this does the filesystem on the client machine (486)
> > use
> > > symlinks to the directories on the server (with the exception of
> > essential
> > > local files I assume) - eg does /opt become a symlink to {ip address of
> > > server}/opt
> >
> > They're completely separate typically. The 486 has it's own
> > installation of software separate from the bigger machine.
> >
> > You CAN, however, link them together. Say you get ready to install
> > Linux on that 486, but realize that it just doesn't have the HD space
> > that you'd like. Well, you can share applications between the two, so
> > mount the big machine's /usr directory onto the 486's filesystem.
> >
> > > I have not discounted using MuLinux or VNC - just trying to learn a bit
> > > more. I also realise that it might be cheaper to buy a new MB for the
> > 486
> > > cases and be able to run everything locally, however part of the
> > excercise
> > > is to set up a LAN.
> >
> > And what better way to realize all of the completely cool things you can
> > do with Unix that just aren't possible under Windows! You can't
> > typically run your application on one machine and display it on another
> > under Windows, you can't run diskless clients easily under Windows, but
> > you can under Linux.
> >
> > There's a really big competitive advantage to running operating systems
> > that allow you to tailor your setup to your available resources. Want
> > to run Netscape on the 486, but there's not enough memory? Use the
> > server to run it and leave the 486 dedicated to displaying the output.
> > It'll be plenty fast at that. People are fighting tooth and nail about
> > thin-clients and this and that, but it all comes back to the fact that
> > they're talking about technology that the Unix world has had available
> > for 20 years! Those thin-clients are X terminals in disguise!
> >
> > --
> > Steve Philp
> > Network Administrator
> > Advance Packaging Corporation
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Steve Philp
Network Administrator
Advance Packaging Corporation
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
