TheLinuxGurus.org: Setting up and Using VNC (Virtual Network Computing) | Linux Today

TheLinuxGurus.org: Setting up and Using VNC (Virtual Network Computing)

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jun 3, 2000

[ Thanks to David Culp
for this link. ]

I recently received an email from a reader asking for help
in displaying applications remotely.
The user had a Linux box
set up as a file/print server for a couple of Windows and Linux
workstations. If the network was composed of only Linux machines or
only Unix machines then the problem is pretty easy to solve,
however, when you throw in a few Windows machines or even a Mac or
two it becomes a bit more difficult. However, the problem can be
solved with a client/server application known as VNC (Virtual
Network Computing).”

“There are other solutions to this problem. On a machine that is
running X you can simply telnet to the other X machine, set the
display variable and display your applications on the local
machine. However, Windows does not exactly ship with an X
environment. However, you can get an X server for Windows. VNC has
the advantage of being fairly cross platform, there are VNC servers
for Windows, Linux and other flavors of Unix, and Macintosh. There
are even ports to the PalmPilot, Amiga, AIX, SCO, IRIX, VMS, BeOS,
ACORN RISC and others. You can be working on a Mac desktop and
display an X windows session from a Linux machine on the network or
a Windows PC. You can even display the remote systems desktop in a
browser window. VNC is released under the GPL and it is extremely
easy to set up.”

Complete
Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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