[ale] Something faster than X-Windows but more secure than VNC server?

Wed Oct 1 13:13:59 EDT 2014

I got remmina rpm compiled for CentOS7 and it "JustWorks". No stability
issues (yet). I really only had them when I had 10+ tabs open on CentOS
6.3-6.4. I've not had cause to have more 3 so far.

The only thing x2go really has in it's corner is it's really, really easy
to setup the remote end of the NX session.

On Wed, Oct 1, 2014 at 12:56 PM, Michael H. Warfield <mhw at wittsend.com>
wrote:

> On Wed, 2014-10-01 at 10:45 -0400, JD wrote:
> > So ...  didn't really want to write this ... google has most of this
> data and
> > 10 minutes installing and running x2go would let you see it for yourself
> ...
>
> I've played with it in the past.  The problem is that I have to support
> multiple simultaneous sessions, across multiple remote sites, some of
> which are RDP (remote Windblows boxen), some of which can be VNC
> (embedded devices and remote installs), and a lot of which are NX.  I
> like having the one client to rule them all.
>
> Right now, I need a decent server I can run on Android and connect to
> from outside a NAT.  Looking like a reverse VNC connection may be my
> best bet there but I'm trying to get IPv6 to this particular site
> (remote support up in Michigan from down here in Georgia - field trips
> are not an option), which I know Android will support, and see what I
> can get for a remote control option (hell, the bad guys can do it with
> their Android RATs, there's got to a way).
>
> > Tried remmina a year ago - meh. Didn't see the point. Either I'm on the
> LAN
> > and don't really need a remote desktop client (X/Windows works) or I'm
> far
> > away and need 1 session to get me back to the LAN, from there, remote X
> works
> > through x2go/NX fine.
>
> Yeah, see, different requirements.  For a single session client, I'm
> sure it's just fine.  For what I need, a full featured multiprotocol
> client fits the bill.
>
> > x2go is my replacement for FreeNX (and whatever NX client is used -
> there are
> > many).
>
> I gave up on nxclient a long time ago.  Remmina was much more stable.
> Plus I hated having 4 different remote desktop clients side by side at
> the same time.
>
> > x2go has clients and servers for all the popular computing platforms that
> > support X/Windows.  Sadly, that does not include Android currently. That
> is
> > the only real issue. A $200 netbook is a nice replacement for a
> > tablet+keyboard - drop whatever Linux desktop you like and be happy.
> >
> > No need to use NoMachine's closed-code, if you don't want.  I did use
> their
> > v3.5.x clients on both Windows and Linux. The v4.x client never worked
> for me,
> > but I haven't tried in a while either. Seemed they wanted to make it
> easier to
> > work/discovery with THEIR servers ... meh.
> >
> > Setup of x2go server on Ubuntu is easier than FreeNX.  It is just
> aptitude
> > install. No rebuilding server-keys needed (or is everyone else using the
> > commonly-known-to-everyone FreeNX keys?). That is a plus and a minus.
> >
> > x2go client is also a nominal install. On UNIX platforms, it will use
> existing
> > ssh keys. No special effort needed.  I haven't bothered to get the keys
> > working on Windows - wouldn't use that OS on the internet anyway.  Do
> use x2go
> > Windows client daily, from inside the LAN.  On the LAN, remote video is
> better
> > than any other free remote desktop tool that I've seen - including SPICE.
> > Audio works too.  Audio works over the internet too.
> >
> > x2go over the internet is nice.  Haven't tested it overseas since
> switching,
> > but NX was tested extensively and I don't see any reason that x2go
> wouldn't be
> > slightly better.
> >
> > I dumped FreeNX after Ubutu 12.04 due to support reasons. There is a
> FreeNX
> > beta for 14.04 (don't bother with non-LTS releases), but it had some
> issues
> > for me at the time. x2go HAD server-side CPU utilization issues due to
> an ssh
> > bug. Be certain to get the newer Windows clients (August 2014) to avoid
> this.
> > I saw spikes to 100% CPU every 5 seconds on the server side. Since this
> was on
> > a shared VM server machine, the other VMs were being impacted
> negatively. It
> > was bad.
> >
> > x2go has downsides
> > * I dislike that only 1 session seems possible at a time.  OTOH,
> connecting to
> > 1 desktop, then using it to connect to others on the same LAN works
> nicely
> > (even Windows via rdesktop/RDP).
> > * the fact that a miscofigured/buggy client can impact the server
> bothers me.
> > * font support seems to be an afterthought. It mostly just works on
> Linux, but
> > Windows terminals sometimes don't resize fonts as expected.  Sometimes
> they do
> > - haven't needed to worry about this much.
> > * DO NOT USE UNITY - that really isn't a downside.  LXDE, XFCE, and
> every WM
> > that I've tried just work.
> >
> > SPICE is nice for inside a LAN, assuming the keyboard mapping issue has
> been
> > solved. It wasn't fixed for my needs and missing 3 important characters
> just
> > isn't an option. SPICE is not encrypted, so a full VPN is probably the
> best
> > remote solution to make that secure. Sure, you can setup SSL certs -
> hassle
> > for a small network.
> >
> > Overall, I wish I'd switched from FreeNX/NX to x2go sooner for my Ubuntu
> > remote desktop VMs. Basically I have a personal VM for this and a work
> VM for
> > this that others use too. For non-video stuff, it works well.  During the
> > installfest I showed a few people how well it worked.  There wasn't any
> real
> > lag - even showing 7MC schedule data changes a page at a time.
> >
> >
> >
> > On 10/01/2014 10:08 AM, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> > > On Tue, 2014-09-30 at 15:02 -0400, Jim Kinney wrote:
> > >> If both ends are *nix, look at X2GO. It's an easier freenx than, um,
> > >> freenx. good for single connections. Not tabbed like remmina. (doesn't
> > >> crash as often as remmina either :-)
> > >
> > > Negatives are that X2GO is not compatible with "standard" NX versions
> such
> > > as FreeNX or NoMachine NX, which can be a significant problem
> depending on
> > > deployment.  No plugin for Remmina, which is still my favorite
> > > multiprotocol client (and doesn't crash for me at all).
> > >
> > > On the plus side, if the client limitations aren't a deal breaker as
> they
> > > were for me, they do have Windows and MacOS clients, so it's not
> limited to
> > > both ends being *nix.  For FreeNX, you would need the NoMachine NX
> client
> > > as Remmina is not available for Windows.  Remmina should run under
> Cygwin
> > > but I've never tried it.
> > >
> > > This is this multiprotocol client, similar to Remmina, for Windows:
> > >
> > > http://www.mremoteng.org/
> > >
> > > Downside, doesn't seem to support NX and certainly doesn't support
> X2GO.
> > >
> > > Downside to FreeNX server:  May not work on all versions of Ubuntu due
> to
> > > conflicts with Wayland and some deprecated multimedia libraries.  Not
> sure
> > > about X2GO there.  Looks like X2GO may have similar conflicts. Refer to
> > > their FAQ.
> > >>
> > > Regards, Mike
> > >>
>
> Regards,
> Mike
> --
> Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 978-7061 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
>    /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |
> http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
>    NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of
> all
>  PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!
>
>
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III

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