Hi, I hope someone can help me get this setup :

I have a linux box, running slackware 10.2 and fluxbox. When switched on, this machine will present a xdm login screen after booting. I have one standard user on the box.

What I would like to be able to do is connect to this box from either a windows or a osx machine on the same subnet. When I connect I would like to see whatever i'd see if i had the monitor plugged into the linux box.

ie - xdm if no-one's logged on, or fluxbox screen with running programs if someone's logged on.

Ideally my remote actions (opening programs etc...) would be observable to anyone watching on the monitor plugged into the linux box.

I've been looking into realvnc, tightvnc and rdesktop but am not sure which is right for this task. I set up vncserver, and connected to it via 'vncviewer 192.168.1.2:5901' from the osx box, but I was presented with an unfamiliar screen, with vnc options in the top left corner and an xterm window.

So is it possible to set this up so that I can connect to the linux machine as though I was in front of it?

If this is not possible, the next best situation would be to be presented with a fresh xdm login screen, from which i could login, and run programs as though i was in front of the machine.


I hope it's clear what i'm trying to do, and that someone will be able to help.

Thanks,

G.

hello,
you have 2 solution :
vnc is good, for the window manager you want use, configure the xstartup file in the $HOME/.vnc directory to start the WM you feel.
The 2nd is to use X at the remote machine.
The man page of vnc is complet and LQ have good tutoriels.
You'd better learn yourselves, because you can better remember what you do than what you heard.

rdesktop is not suitable; it connects to MS Windows Remote Desktop protocol on Windows machines only.

Here's a page on remoting the native display. Also, I know of a Gnome VNC server called Vino (included in many distros) that lets you allow people to remote the desktop and solve problems or something.

that page is useful, thanks.

perhaps there is a way to connect to the current x session? but i'm not sure how I could do this on windows, although perhaps it may be possible via osx.

success!

that x0vncserver was just what i was looking for.

Thanks very much!

G.

x11vnc is also a good option, its what i use