RE: Possibility of RDP server for Linux?

[Bernd Christiansen <bernd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In contrast to X, VNC is stateless and its sessions are truly movable.
These are two key properties if sessions are accessed from different
terminals over time or a terminal is shared by multiple people.  While Xmove
makes individual X applications movable, its requirement of having matching
X displays is not practical.  Therefore, using VNC instead of X might be a
good idea and I haven't seen a fan-less sub $299 Linux box yet.

-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Meade [mailto:Todd.Meade@crystaldecisions.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:27 AM
To: rdesktop@rdesktop.org
Subject: RE: Possibility of RDP server for Linux?


Yes, but why would one want a WinTerm to talk to Linux?  A WinTerm by
definition talks to Windows.  People keep talking about building an RDP
server for Linux, presumably to serve Linux applications.  Building a
diskless Linux client for a Linux server could be done for well under $299
(just using plain old fashioned X).  VNC simply reverses the X client/server
convention, which is a very handy convenience, much like "screen" for tty's.

RDP has nothing to do with load balancing.

Try

http://ultramonkey.sourceforge.net/ultramonkey-1.0.1/ipvs.html

for an open source server farm.

Having a multi-user, remote GUI access to a server, is not a new idea
invented by Citrix/Microsoft/SCO in the mid-90's.  It's been the X
philosophy since the mid-80's.

> On the upside, I can buy a stateless ICA terminal for $299!  
> While there are
> WinTerms that can run custom applications like a VNC viewer, those are
> typically substantially more expensive.
> 
> Even for Xvnc, many issues (e.g., load balancing) haven't 
> been addressed
> yet.  Just look at what Tarantella offers beyond basic remote 
> access ;-)
> 
> ----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Ossmann [mailto:michael.ossmann@alttech.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 10:21 AM
> To: Todd Meade
> Cc: rdesktop@rdesktop.org
> Subject: Re: Possibility of RDP server for Linux?
> 
> 
> On Tue, Jan 15, 2002 at 09:22:48AM -0800, Todd Meade wrote:
> >
> > Doesn't VNC already fill this gap?  Why a RDP specific 
> protocol server
> > for Linux?  Are the RDP clients that much better than a RFB/VNC
> > client, where a completely open source RFP alternative 
> already exists;
> > with a full range of clients (including browser/java) for just about
> > any platform one would be using?
> 
> No, RDP isn't really any better than RFB, at least not until recently.
> The fact that RDP is a proprietary protocol makes it undesirable for
> many purposes.  I certainly wouldn't expect a Linux RDP server to be a
> replacement for VNC.  There are many RDP clients out there, however,
> which do not (and probably never will) support RFB.  Chief among these
> are the wide variety of "Windows Based Terminals" such as the Wyse
> Winterms.  Most of them run WinCE and have no JVM to run a VNC client,
> although some run Embedded NT or Embedded XP and should be able to run
> the Java VNC client.
> 
> -- 
> Mike Ossmann, Tarantella/UNIX Engineer/Instructor
> Alternative Technology, Inc.  http://www.alttech.com/
>