[ale] Remote Desktop for Everything?

[JD]

On 10/23/2012 03:46 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> Yeah. But if the cloud was my own and the tablet was truly mine (i.e.
> rooted and reinstalled with my choice of binaries), I could see how
> this could be useful. Puts the backup needs in one space.
> 
> On Tue, Oct 23, 2012 at 3:39 PM, David Tomaschik
> <david at systemoverlord.com> wrote:
>> So, being the security-conscious (paranoid) guy I am, I would not
>> trust most cloud providers with all my data.  Plus, the OS on tablets
>> is too restrictive unless you root and do CM or something.

I migrated my normal desktop, which has been a VM the last 3-4 yrs, into a KVM
server last week.  Locally, I've been accessing it over GigE, but during a class
over the weekend, I did all the normal programming, debugging and testing
through a wifi connection about 20 miles from the house for about 3 hours. The
lag was minimal.

NX is the protocol used. It is much more efficient than the alternatives, but
there isn't a production level Android version available, so a netbook or laptop
is still needed. There are Free Windows, OSX and Linux NX clients, but I've only
seen F/LOSS Linux servers (neatnx or freenx, I believe).

I'm sold on NX when compared with RDP or VNC. It is THAT much quicker and uses
an ssh connection for all traffic combined with PKI. No need to trust some SSL
cert that a government can spoof.  A client/server cert + password gain access.

On my netbook, I've encrypted the HOME directory but don't really have anything
else loaded besides the NX client.  Email, web surfing, etc all happen on the
remote machine.  If the netbook is lost or stolen, I'm confident the data is
safe, back at home.  That's how it should be.


I looked at owncloud a few months ago.  There was something about it that I
didn't like - perhaps their servers needed to be in the middle? Sorry, I don't
recall the details now.  I can run a server at home and open a port for ssh.
Anything less secure concerns me.


I used to think that Android was really restrictive, until I discovered
"Terminal IDE" - it brings many of the things we like about Linux CLI to
Android. No need for separate apps for ssh, rsync, bash, .... those are all part
of it.  If your device has been rooted, "su -" gain root access.  It has 4
terminal sessions built-in so hopping between servers is easy.  Anyway, with
that app AND a physical keyboard, I don't mind being on Android nearly as much.


Seems really strange to see a google employee imply that android and cloud
providers are not being trustworthy.  Say it ain't so!