Remote Desktop Connection

[Garrett Cooper]

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FreeBSD WickerBill wrote:
> 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.

WickerBill,
	Ah, excellent. Didn't know that.. ports_glob doesn't always turn up the
right answers; a tool should be made in conjunction with portell to
search package descriptions, similar to Gentoo's esearch I think..

Greg,
	Give nxserver a shot. It's by far a lot better than VNC and it ties
directly into working X sessions IIRC and is equivalent in speed to
remote desktop on Windows NT (in fact possibly faster from what I've
heard on slower connections). Plus it's secure (built in ssh tie-ins).
They (the devs) have a few test servers up so you can give it a shot and
see how it works.
Cheers,
- -Garrett
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