Control Monitorless Media PC Remotely (w/o VNC)
 

Hi.

Stats:
OS: openSUSE 10.3
Serving applications: Apache2, SSH


I have a server setup that currently has an SSH server installed and running. And I'm looking to use that computer as a media PC. I have it hooked up to my TV now. It's an obscure corner, so I have no input devices on it (I would prefer to keep it that way as the resolution is so low you can't read the text on the TV).

I'm trying to find a means of controlling this computer in a way that meets the following criteria:
a.) allows access from some other computer. VNC presents itself here. But I would prefer to have as few holes opened up in the firewall as possible...
b.) Isn't trying to stream video across the network (which would be the case if I were to VNC in and start to play the movie. The movie would also try to play on the controlling PC, which is just sloppy.

Is there a way to utilize/control the computer's default display through SSH? I would ideally love to have it setup in this way:
SSH in with X11 forwarding and use the remote display (my laptop) as the "controlling" display, and extend the desktop "xinerama" onto the TV. So that I could play movies and such on that monitor and they would appear on the TV but I would still be able to control things on my laptop. Is this possible?

Sorry to be so complicated.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff