Re: [CentOS] Please help me rate vnc, rdesktop, and freenx

2007-12-07 Thread Les Mikesell

Bill Campbell wrote:


The real *NIX way of accessing a graphical application remotely is by
using a remote X desktop.  It sounds strange if you're not familiar
with it, but basically you run the 1 application on the remote server,
and the application window (and only the application window), shows up
on your local workstation.


Or you can run the whole desktop remotely - or many of them on thin 
clients.  Freenx does this just as well as X locally (perhaps with a bit 
more overhead, but the tradeoff is that you can suspend and reconnect).


>>  SSH provides a way to do this securely.

The drawback is you will need an X server running on your local
computer, but that can be had for free in Windows from cygwin.


You can use the easily installed (and free) NX client from windows and 
macs without installing anything extra.  And it uses ssh so you only 
need port 22 open to the destination.



I don't Do Windows(tm) so rarely have to deal with them.  When
working with Linux and other *nix systems, it's always through
ssh with X11 forwarding for those rare occassions when I need to
do something like run Firefox from a client's machine to access a
router from their private LAN.  That can get a bit clunky on slow
connections, but it does work.


Freenx isn't all that clunky even on slow connections, which, aside from 
the ability to reconnect to running sessions, is the main reason to use 
it.  It takes a bit of time for the initial screen to draw, but the 
protocol does a good job with subsequent updates.



If I'm on a fast connection, I'll run the xterm on the remote
system with ``ssh -f remotename xterm'', but if it's a slow
connection ``xterm -e ssh remotename &'' to run the xterm on my
local machine.


I like to keep a freenx session running on a machine at the office with 
windows already open to a bunch of other systems (it is just like any 
other X desktop).  When I'm there I connect from a multi-head windows 
box with the NX client filling one monitor with this session so it is 
pretty much indistinguishable from a local Linux box except that I can 
cut and paste between it and the windows programs on the other monitor. 
 When I leave, I suspend the session and can pick it up from a Mac at 
home or a windows laptop on the road.  Any long-running commands are 
still there and if there is a problem with connectivity it doesn't kill 
anything - you can still reconnect with things running.


--
  Les Mikesell
   [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Re: [CentOS] Please help me rate vnc, rdesktop, and freenx

2007-12-07 Thread Bill Campbell
On Thu, Dec 06, 2007, Brian Mathis wrote:
>On Dec 6, 2007 5:05 PM, Robert Moskowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> I have been dragging my feet on remote display, and have just gotten VNC
>> going to have SOMETHING to move off the start line.  But I need the
>> 'best' for different situations, so I want to rate them.
>>
>> 1 to 3 where 1 is the 'best' for the catagory and 3 the loser.
>>
>> VNC  RDESKTOP  FREENX
>>
>>
>> Server memory
>> Server cpu
>> client memory
>> client cpu
>> bandwidth
>>
>> thanks.  I AM search the net for this information.  So far have not
>> found the magic query request :)
>>
>
>There are numerous ways to remotely access a Linux machine, and
>honestly the "remote desktop" style that Windows uses is the worst of
>them.  VNC, rdesktop, and freenx all replicate that method of access,
>where you basically get a picture of what would be on the monitor if
>you were sitting at it.
>
>As was already mentioned, ssh is really the main way for remote
>access, but for people not familiar with Linux, there's no GUI and no
>mouse beyond copy/paste, so you may look for another solution.
>
>The real *NIX way of accessing a graphical application remotely is by
>using a remote X desktop.  It sounds strange if you're not familiar
>with it, but basically you run the 1 application on the remote server,
>and the application window (and only the application window), shows up
>on your local workstation.  SSH provides a way to do this securely.
>The drawback is you will need an X server running on your local
>computer, but that can be had for free in Windows from cygwin.

I don't Do Windows(tm) so rarely have to deal with them.  When
working with Linux and other *nix systems, it's always through
ssh with X11 forwarding for those rare occassions when I need to
do something like run Firefox from a client's machine to access a
router from their private LAN.  That can get a bit clunky on slow
connections, but it does work.

If I'm on a fast connection, I'll run the xterm on the remote
system with ``ssh -f remotename xterm'', but if it's a slow
connection ``xterm -e ssh remotename &'' to run the xterm on my
local machine.

Once I get around to upgrading my Macs to Leopard, I may use the
Apple remote desktop feature occassionally when I need to see
what a client is doing on their desktop which should be faster
than trying to talk them through a GUI on the phone.

Bill
--
INTERNET:   [EMAIL PROTECTED]  Bill Campbell; Celestial Software LLC
URL: http://www.celestial.com/  PO Box 820; 6641 E. Mercer Way
FAX:(206) 232-9186  Mercer Island, WA 98040-0820; (206) 236-1676

Capitalism works primarily because most of the ways that a company can be
scum end up being extremely bad for business when there's working
competition. -rra
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Re: [CentOS] Please help me rate vnc, rdesktop, and freenx

2007-12-06 Thread Robert Moskowitz

Les Bell wrote:

Robert Moskowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

  
1 to 3 where 1 is the 'best' for the catagory and 3 the loser.

<<

You fogot the ssh/vi combination, which rates 1 across the board.
  

ssh/vi 


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Re: [CentOS] Please help me rate vnc, rdesktop, and freenx

2007-12-06 Thread Brian Mathis
On Dec 6, 2007 5:05 PM, Robert Moskowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have been dragging my feet on remote display, and have just gotten VNC
> going to have SOMETHING to move off the start line.  But I need the
> 'best' for different situations, so I want to rate them.
>
> 1 to 3 where 1 is the 'best' for the catagory and 3 the loser.
>
> VNC  RDESKTOP  FREENX
>
>
> Server memory
> Server cpu
> client memory
> client cpu
> bandwidth
>
> thanks.  I AM search the net for this information.  So far have not
> found the magic query request :)
>

There are numerous ways to remotely access a Linux machine, and
honestly the "remote desktop" style that Windows uses is the worst of
them.  VNC, rdesktop, and freenx all replicate that method of access,
where you basically get a picture of what would be on the monitor if
you were sitting at it.

As was already mentioned, ssh is really the main way for remote
access, but for people not familiar with Linux, there's no GUI and no
mouse beyond copy/paste, so you may look for another solution.

The real *NIX way of accessing a graphical application remotely is by
using a remote X desktop.  It sounds strange if you're not familiar
with it, but basically you run the 1 application on the remote server,
and the application window (and only the application window), shows up
on your local workstation.  SSH provides a way to do this securely.
The drawback is you will need an X server running on your local
computer, but that can be had for free in Windows from cygwin.

Having stepped your foot in all of that now, the simplest GUI to get
working is the vnc/freenx style of remote access.  I have only used
VNC, and it works well enough, but I hear good things about freenx.
If you go the VNC route, make sure to set up a firewall to block
direct access to the vnc port, and only access it through ssh
forwarding, as vnc is not secure by itself.
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Re: [CentOS] Please help me rate vnc, rdesktop, and freenx

2007-12-06 Thread Les Bell

Robert Moskowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>>
1 to 3 where 1 is the 'best' for the catagory and 3 the loser.
<<

You fogot the ssh/vi combination, which rates 1 across the board.

Best,

--- Les Bell, RHCE, CISSP
[http://www.lesbell.com.au]
Tel: +61 2 9451 1144
FreeWorldDialup: 800909


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