Windows emulation
 

Okay, I know this is a stupid question again. What do you expect from a newbie anyway.

I want to use a termnal to access the Debian server in the computer room. How do I accomplish this?

You could use SSH (Secure Shell) or Telnet.

But I want to use the Windows interface rather than a textual dummy terminal method.

do you mean GUI?

use VNC then......but it will be damn slow if you internet corrention is not super fast;)

The Debian server is within the same LAN as my PC, why would I use VNC?

What are you trying to accomplish?

I just want to use it on my desktop ?

If I understand you correctly you need this

A - Debian < - LAN - > B - WinXP

Access from B to A using text and/or GUI?

Is it correct?

You can access using XDMCP. For this you need to install X Server on your WinXP PC or Exceed (commercial) or x.cygwin (used it a lot and enjoyed)

So do following:

1. Go to Debian GDM setup -> enable XDMCP
2. Go to Debain Firewall setup - open 177UDP and 6000TCP ports for connection of XDMCP
3. Install cygwin + x.cygwin on WinXP Box ( www.cygwin.com )
4. Open 16001 port on your WinXP Firewall
5. Run "XWin.exe -query DEBIAN-IP"

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If there are security issues on internal LAN use SSH with X Forwarding + X Server - little bit another story.

1. Install cygwin + x.cygwin
2. Run X server
3. Run ssh -Y -l usernane DEBIAN-IP (enables X forwarding via ssh)
4. Run any X application - for testing best run xclock

yeah I have to agree here, I have had much more success using XDMCP in the past, it is much more involved with setting up then just using VNC however i find my VNC connections dropped way more that using XDMCP.

IMHO,
Greg