Remote Desktop Connection

[FreeBSD WickerBill]

On 1/24/07, Grzegorz Pluta <grzegorz.pluta at segi.pl> wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the replies guys!
> It was really helpful
> Cheers,
> Greg
>
>
> Kevin Kinsey wrote:
> > Grzegorz Pluta wrote:
> >> Hi.
> >> Id like to asj you guys if you used any remote desktops with freebsd?
> >> Which
> >> client/server would you recommend, and why? Witch wich desktop env
> >> have you
> >> been using it?
> >
> > I use Xorg & XFCE4 on my FreeBSD desktop(s).  For remote desktop
> > connections:
> >
> > FreeBSD -> FreeBSD: ssh with X11 forwarding (-X or -Y options, see
> > manpage).
> >
> > FreeBSD -> Windows: rdesktop (/usr/ports/net/rdesktop).  Works
> > beautifully for work.  Can't recall which, but some games don't seem to
> > like it.
> >
> > Windows -> FreeBSD:  freeXer and PuTTY with X11 forwarding enabled. Kind
> > of interesting to have my FreeBSD desktop apps on my wife's lappy at the
> > breakfast table ;-).  With this setup, Windows actually is the "window
> > manager" --- kinda disconcerting at first glance :-D
> >
> > Kevin Kinsey
>
> Overall, as many have suggest on the list there are a number of caveats
> to using different means of connecting.
>
> Here's a short rundown with all of my comments:
>
> rdesktop and krdc (KDE rdesktop) work for connecting to Windows NT 5.0+
> servers. Don't have a Windows server that meets that spec? Probably
> won't need rdesktop/krdc then.. Don't install krdc unless you also want
> to install KDE.
>
> X11 forwarding through ssh is great when you're connections between you
> and the remote machine are relatively fast (fast up on the server, fast
> down on the client). Compression with ssh (-C flag--not available on all
> ssh or ssh2 implementations) is a good idea when using this to connect
> remotely because there's a lot of data that gets piped through an X11
> connection.
>
> VNC is better for keeping remote sessions active after disconnecting
> from the machine. There are many VNC servers software titles, but you
> will either probably look into tightvnc (creates a new X session per
> instance), or x11vnc (connects to an existing X session on your
> machine). Quality, speed and latency are an issue here as VNC is sort of
> bad at caching tiles on the desktop. Using a lightweight wm or desktop
> is a wise idea though without a desktop picture and sticking to X11 only
> widgets (xclock, xterm, etc) is a good idea as the redraw is better than
> gtk or qt apps or other programs (firefox, thunderbird). Try to wrap the
> connection using portforwarding via SSH if you're logged in from a large
> LAN or over a WAN because everything sent with tightvnc is cleartext, so
> passwords, credit card numbers, etc can be sniffed by a knowledgeable
> individual.
>
> I'm still amazed that nomachinex hasn't been ported to FreeBSD, but it's
> a complete binary release of a 'hacked' X11 system, so the devs at the
> nomachine group probably haven't gotten around to porting it yet.
>
> Cheers,
> - -Garrett
> -


It's in the ports.

portless nxserver
This is a port of NoMachine's NX server, which is a way to
use X connections over slow links without noticeable lag.

WWW: http://www.nomachine.com

I use it daily from a windows client to home computer running PC-BSD (KDE)
It runs much faster than I could ever get VNC to run. I use rdesktop going
from FreeBSD to Windows and it works fine too.