[ale] how do I run, and control, X11 server on android tablet?

Sat Dec 29 20:41:13 EST 2012

Go, being created at Google, has *really* nice HTTP server features in its
standard set of packages.

You could consider running a web server in Go on your laptop and a browser
on your tablet.  The browser would be the GUI.  You could use Go's HTTP
server and HTML templating features for dynamic web server stuff.
"Effective Go" ends with an example like that.

You can draw on jQuery and such to create an elaborate GUI if needed,
because I don't immediately know of a way to run client-side Go on the
tablet, while running Javascript in the browser remains a normal and easy
way to get responsive GUIs up and running quickly.

On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 8:05 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) <
atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

>
>
> JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:
>
> >On 12/29/2012 03:31 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I've been trying to figure out how to attach a program running in the
> >GO
> >> language to a GUI, since it doesn't have a built in GUI.  I've found
> >a couple of
> >> X11 server programs in the Google Play store entitled, cleverly, X
> >Server.  I'm
> >> wondering if I can run the X server on the Android tablet and control
> >or drive
> >> it remotely from another PC with a GO program or even a bash script.
> >So, if I
> >> install the X Server program on the tablet, and say its address is
> >192.168.50.5,
> >> and the pc's address is 192.168.50.1, how do I run Ubuntu graphical
> >apps (say
> >> Firefox?) on the PC and have them appear on the tablet?  Furthermore,
> >how do I
> >> use a program or script to drive the X11 server directly, so I can
> >use the
> >> tablet as the GUI for the GO program?
> >>
> >
> >Unless something major has changed in the last 4 months, there isn't an
> >X-server
> >that runs on Android.  I've done this. The way to achieve that is to
> >run a
> >chroot copy of an Arm-linux, run the program inside that Linux plus a
> >VNC server
> >the connect to your local arm-Linux using a VNC program from google's
> >store.  It
> >sorta works, but not anywhere as well as most people would need.  It
> >was a
> >curiosity to me. Nothing more.
> >
> >X-servers and X-clients work backwards of what most C/S architectures
> >involve.
> >The physical machine where you want to display things - THAT is the
> >X-server.
> >The remote machine is where the X-client runs.  Last time I needed to
> >help
> >someone understand it, wikipedia had a good explanation.
> >
> >Having a fully functioning X-Server for Android would be nice. REALLY
> >nice.  To
> >get the needed performance, I can't see that being written in java, so
> >a native
> >build will be needed for each platform.
> >
> >Ok, so back to your final question - how to run remote GUI programs on
> >Android?
> >VNC.  I wish there were a working NX client, since NX is 2x-3x more
> >efficient
> >than VNC or RDP.  Don't forget that VNC usually doesn't include any
> >encryption,
> >so do this on a LAN only, not over the internet without adding a VPN to
> >the mix.
> >
> >BTW, I have an A500 tablet.
> >I hope this helps.
> >
>
> Hi JD,
>
> Thanks for the note.  I'm not afraid to admit that I don't really know
> what you meant in your first paragraph.  As I mentioned in my reply to Sam,
> I almost got it to work with a program called X Server which is available
> in the Google Play store.  There is another one as well, which is somehow
> attached to VNC, but I couldn't figure that out in a short time.  I
> installed X Server on the tablet, then used the command Sam recommended to
> export my display from my Ubuntu laptop, specifying the IP of the tablet as
> the target.  I then started firefox from a terminal window on the laptop.
>  I saw the firefox window appear on the tablet's screen.  However, I
> couldn't interact with it or control it in any way.  I could only look at
> it and reposition the mouse cursor by touching the tablet screen.  It was
> tantalisingly close to working.
>
> Let me elaborate a bit on what I want to do.  VNC might work, but I'm not
> sure it will.  I'm just beginning to learn the GO language.  It really
> doesn't have a GUI, so it's not very good for desktop user driven programs.
>  I think there are some bindings to C Libraries for FLTK or GTK.  However,
> I'm trying to do something with what GO has built in and only minimal
> additional stuff.  It occurred to me that an X client can export its
> display to any X server on the net via TCP/IP (with proper authentication,
> etc.).  Well, GO does have networking built in.  So, if I can send out X
> commands through the TCP/IP connection to any X server, then I can have
> instant programmatical access to a GUI that I can drive to do what I want.
>  So, here's an example off what I want to do.
>
> Let's say I want to initialize a GUI for the user.  The user is on the
> tablet, the GO program is on my laptop.  I use GO's networking commands to
> issue X requests directly to the X server running on the tablet, and a
> program window appears on the tablet.  I don't know exactly how to do this,
> but you would have to manipulate the TCP/IP data stream directly.  I send
> other X commands from the GO program on the laptop to the tablet and menus
> and buttons appear on the tablet.  I initialize text entry blanks, and even
> images, all programmatically, and X server becomes my GUI.  Any computer
> that can run X can be my display, even the same one that is running the GO
> program.  I get an instant GUI and cross platform ability without linking
> in custom libraries on every target machine.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
> Please excuse my potential brevity.
>
> (To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
> address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
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-- 
  Ed Cashin <ecashin at noserose.net>
  http://noserose.net/e/
  http://www.coraid.com/
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