FreeNX Angst
First off, forgive the OS X image of FreeNX. I am using it as it demonstrates some of my own frustration with the app based on my own experience. I have tested FreeNX on Linux half a dozen times and to date, completely fail to see any value in it for myself personally.
The application, both server and client install fairly easily. However getting them to connect to anything seems to be hit and miss, depending on who is using it apparently. For my money, I would rely on something a little more proven assuming you are connecting to a TRUSTED PC.
I like SSH with X forwarding. Even better, SSH going this route. (NO-IP name and server ident changed to fake names)
#!/bin/bash
ssh -f -L 5900:localhost:5900 clever-server-name.no-ip.biz \
x11vnc -ncache 10 -safer -localhost -nopw -once -display :0 \
&& sleep 3 \
&& vinagre localhost | nautilus sftp://me@matt-ssh.no-ip.biz/home/matt/Desktop
Assuming you have your SSH server setup on your trusted host machine, using NO-IP with vinagre with x11vnc to act as your window into the world will serve you with tremendous success. Why put your faith into unproven software you when you can have sFTP access along with full desktop maneuverability in a single mouse click?
For intermediate Linux users, this is the best way to connect based on my own experience. They key of course, is to make sure you are using no passwords with your SSH connections, as they are easy to bi-pass. And you might also want to consider using another port than the typical SSH port, too. Just for security’s sake.
2 Comments
Tim H
May 14th, 2009
at 3:36am
Curiously, I’ve just started using it here – I was getting frustrated with tunnelled X, where everything dies when the network connection goes (or my laptop runs out of battery!). Being able to fire up a desktop for a remote server, kick something off, disconnect and come back later to find it still running is magic for me. The other big benefit for me is that tunnelled – or indeed just networked – X seems to be very slow for some things, for instance the Java GUI that is used to install Oracle. These tasks run loads better from my laptop using NX. Finally, VNC I find a bit rubbish for my purposes – the server I am accessing has a very low screen resolution, so VNC only uses about 1/4 of my laptop screen. On the other hand, NX allows me to have a full-size desktop on the server when using it from my laptop.
Is it just a networking problem for you? I believe it uses SSH tunnelling behind the scenes…
digitivity
May 22nd, 2009
at 4:32am
That’s a goodly long command line there. If this is your standard X forwarding command line, did it grow by experiment as necessitated by various problems encountered during use?
Also, how does this compare to a simple ssh -X ?