You may quote me. Please send me a link to the article
when it posts!
:-}
In a nutshell:
I like to use the Mandrake executables because they
are optimized for i586. They also include tight
encryption (but not zlib...grrrrrrrr) which makes a
tremendous difference in speed. Unfortunately, there
are flaws in their X version of vncviewer. It does not
encrypt the password when entering it so it appears on
screen as clear text...and then it won't work either
way. Running it from the console and specifying the
user:port works correctly though.
For X vncviewer, I use tridiaVNC's version. It
includes both zlib and tight but for some reason I
have difficulty making tight connections between
windows and linux. I can make a tight connection
between linux boxes without issue.
For vncserver, I use mandrakes version of Xvnc but use
Redhat's vncserver scripts and service. Redhat
optimized vncserver so that when you run it as a
service (/etc/init.d/vncserver start), you can open
various user accounts with vnc at bootup and cleanly
close them all down also. Very sweet! Before I would
have to remember to log into each account and start
the vncserver there... very time consuming and
inefficient.. This also allows you NOT to start vnc as
root which could leave you very vulnerable to having
root compromised. The other versions of these
vncserver service defaults to running vnc from root
and from the / directory. That is doubly annoying as
it uglifies the directory structure.
I would like to see a boot cleanup script linked to
the vncserver service which would delete pids from the
user directory and /tmp/.X11-unix when those pids
exist upon starting the service. For example, the
vncservers script is configured as follows:
VNCSERVERS="1:user1 2:user2"
when /etc/init.d/vncserver is started it would check
the ~/.vnc directory for user1.domain:1.pid and delete
it if it is there and also delete the corresponding
Xwindow in /tmp/.X11-unix, which would be =X1 in this
case for user 1. Currently, if there is a power outage
or some other reason for the system to reboot
improperly, then the pids would remain open and have
to be manually cleared before the service would
properly run. This is true even if you use reiserfs.
The main reason I love vnc is it is cross platform and
opensource. I use it to support the office remotely
and to access windows remotely. I am currently setting
up linux server with win4lin's terminal server edition
as a way of extending the life of existing p133's at
the office. It also would allow for a beginning
transition to linux and allow the office staff to
slowly adjust to the new os, while allowing the linux
apps to catch up with office use. This allows them to
continue using windows and getting a speed upgrade in
the short term. I also have noticed that running vnc
to linux and then opening up windows from within linux
seems to give a faster response than running vnc
windows to windows. These are all preliminary
observations, as I am only in testing mode right now,
although I have been using vnc personally for remote
maintanance of the network for over a year now.
--- Hoyt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Tuesday 31 July 2001 02:19 am, SI Reasoning
> methodically organized
> electrons to state:
> > I actually tried to get the source rpms to compile
> but
> > it kicked out over the vncviewer man. This "trick"
> was
> > done using the pre-compiled rpms but it is sooo
> ugly.
> >
> > I use the mdk rpms as the base
> > I use tridia's vncviewer
> > I use redhat's vncserver scripts (but mdk's Xvnc)
> > /etc/sysconfig/vncservers
> > /etc/init.d/vncserver
> > /usr/bin/vncserver
> >
> > What a nuisance...but it works.
> >
>
> Could you, once again, explain the rationale for
> these choices? Why is the
> Mandrake executable superior/not superior, and so
> on?
>
> I hope to be assigned to write an article for
> LinuxFormat magazine about VNC
> and I would like to include this item (with
> attribution) if it's OK with you.
>
> Any other comments on your use of VNC?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Hoyt
=====
SI Reasoning
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
gnupg/pgp key id 035213BC
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