[ale] ubiquitizing the desktop

[attriel]

>> > I used to use VNC for this, but due to job constraints, I have to
>> use an encrypted link and I don't know how well VNC sets up with
>> one of those ...
>>
>> As a basic, generic mechanism, I'd recommend setting up ssh, and then
>> tunneling everything else through ssh's port forwarding
>> mechanism. Specifically, I've used VNC over ssh tunnels with
>> success.
>
> The generic procedure is to ssh into the machine where your desktop
> resides and start the VNC server. Next, you set up an ssh tunnel
> between the machine you're at and the desktop machine (that's the ssh -L
> option). The tunnel makes the remote machine look like it's on the
> localhost at some specified port.

Hrrm.  This sounds like I'd have to restart VNC every time i reconnected,
which fails the "prevent me from having to open all 20 windows every time"
test :/

Or can I just do the ssh -L thing and "pick up" my desktop?

> On Windows, I use putty as my ssh app. Though they handle the ssh
> tunnel option graphically, the options are all there. Here's another
> resource: http://drvandv.com/freesco/VNC/ (vnc over ssh with putty).

I've got f-secure, but it's a buggy PoS from my usage of it, so I'm trying
to find out if I can either get a license for the ssh.com client or if
openssh works reasonbly on windows (i've never liked putty, for some
reason :/)

>> You can check the ssh man page for the "-L" option.  There is also a
>> tutorial here:
>>
>> http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/excerpt/ssh_11/index3.html
>
> As a note: I use VNC over the Internet (my end is a DSL connection) to
> reach a Windows machine. The connection was fairly slow and I
> wouldn't suggest it as your regular working solution. Sure, it was fast
> enough, but I hated waiting for the connection to catch up with me.

I remember using VNC to load up a windows desktop over the college
network, and it was always piss-slow, while the X on the box next to the
windows one would load right up; that was back in ... 98 or 99, so they
probably made a few improvements since then :o

> What about running X over ssh?

Again, does that allow the desktop to remain persistent?  The solutions
I've seen doing that always involve running xwin32 and then hooking it
through the ssh connection (we have xwin32 and f-secure both fully
licensed; but f-secure crashes randomly, and xwin32 won't talk to the
network :o) but then having to start the windows I want, which doesn't
seem like a noticeable improvement over the "open a bunch of SSH windows
to the machines I want to work with, every time" current solution :/

But it's been 3 or 4 years since my linux-primary got retired to
server/router status, and I haven't had X on a machine in a while, so I'm
not really sure what's there anymore :o

--attriel


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