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

[JD]

All valid points. I only need to get "inside" 1 network, from there insecure
remote sessions are fine (vnc/rdp/X).

One thing I left out - x2go works across multi-monitor setups. I never got NX to
cross monitors.  Discovered this feature by accident.

It takes 10 min to setup the x2go server AND a client - then try it. For all the
talking, everyone on this list could have tried it for themselves already
(assuming installs are trivial on non-Ubuntu systems).  If you are familar with
x2go, 90 seconds is about all it should take to install the server, a client and
setup session settings for the first connection.

It really is that simple.


On 10/01/2014 12:56 PM, Michael H. Warfield 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
>>>>