XDMCP forwarding

[David Potterveld]

OK, I'll chip in with my 2 cents. I recommend looking into a software package
called vnc. There are two parts, a server and a client. The server runs on
your unix box, and there is a client for your PC that runs under windows. The
server on the unix side is a modified X server. When the client connects to it,
it's exactly like logging in to the unix machine, and the client (your PC)
opens a window that is an exact copy of what you would see if you were
logging in at the unix console. When you login, you'll get the gnome toolbar,
the window manager, and everything else. Incidently, there are windows versions
of the server, and unix (and java) versions of the client, making it possible
to export unix and windows sessions to just about anywhere.

There are many nice things about vnc. For example, the client stores no
information about the state of the session. You can be using it in one
location, disconnect and go somewhere else, and reconnect to the same
session. It's also fairly intelligent about how the client and server
communicate to minimize I/O. The PC client is small, and fits on a floppy.
You don't need Xserver software on the PC. What vnc lacks is encryption.
However, it's tcp based, and you can use ssh port forwarding to tunnel an
encrypted connection through a firewall (Hence any relevence to this group...)
Vnc has some kind of challenge-response password to protect your sessions,
but I don't really know how secure the server is; you're own your own there.

If it sounds interesting, surf to http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/ for
more information.

David Potterveld
Argonne National Laboratory