[SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

xtian · 2013-09-04 21:11:38

My goal is to simply enable remote desktop on my soon to be headless server. Given the number of posts here at Arch explaining the trouble with freenx and the Arch support of x2go, I'm confused there is not more talk about their compatibility. And as I've just discovered, they're not:

"Various open source terminal server projects such as x2go also use the NX protocol; however, x2go is not compatible with other NX servers and clients." (NX Technology)

This leaves me in a bit of a pickle. CentOS doesn't support x2go, and Arch doesn't support freenx. What's the best interoperable solution then? Either a sever app which supports x2go or a client app that supports NXX?

Last edited by xtian (2013-09-17 21:56:10)

karol · 2013-09-04 21:33:44

Some background wrt Arch Linux not supporting freenx: https://mailman.archlinux.org/pipermail … 25146.html

xtian · 2013-09-04 23:26:57

I tried to install opennx from the AUR repo, but was unsuccessful in the build dependency for nx-common.

karol · 2013-09-04 23:48:06

Often the packages dropped from the repos find their way to the AUR, they sometimes are uploaded by the devs who removed them from the repos.
This is not the case with nx-common.
https://projects.archlinux.org/svntogit … a076febc35
https://projects.archlinux.org/svntogit … 0a8daaa400

xtian · 2013-09-05 09:41:30

You're saying nx was "thrown back into the wild"? As a matter of maintaining the reliability of the rolling updates a package without a on record maintainer gets sent to AUR. What? It works reliably, becomes stale, and when no one wants to be responsible, its kicked down to AUR? Possbily by the same person who started the trouble in the first place?

It sounds like a familiar scenario...

karol · 2013-09-05 10:47:03

The packages in the official repos should be consistently kept in a working condition, so when a package breaks and no one wants to fix it and keep it fixed, it gets removed from the repos. Such packages are sometimes uploaded to the AUR, so that someone who's not a dev or a TU can maintain them, if he wants, but it doesn't always happen.

I have no idea what familiar scenario are you talking about or who is the 'person who started the trouble in the first place'. The devs / TUs owe us shit. If they maintain the packages I want to use - cool. If they don't, I can maintain them myself. If I want to share, I can upload them into the AUR or create my own unofficial repo.

tomk · 2013-09-05 11:04:42

xtian wrote:

You're saying nx was "thrown back into the wild"?

Yes.

xtian wrote:

As a matter of maintaining the reliability of the rolling updates a package without a on record maintainer gets sent to AUR.

Yes.

xtian wrote:

It works reliably, becomes stale, and when no one wants to be responsible, its kicked down to AUR?

Yes.

xtian wrote:

Possbily by the same person who started the trouble in the first place?

Ehmm... No. Did you read the link Karol gave you? The "person who started the trouble" is the upstream maintainer(s) who decided not to maintain it anymore.

xtian wrote:

It sounds like a familiar scenario...

Yes, because it is.

BTW, what exactly do you mean by "CentOS doesn't support x2go"? A quick google turns up various relevant posts e.g. https://www.nic-nac-project.de/~jose/310/notes/x2go/ .

Last edited by tomk (2013-09-05 11:06:49)

progandy · 2013-09-05 11:21:39

If you want to use other nx clients/servers than x2go, you can create the PKGBUILD for nx-libx (with provides nx-common) and install that.
As far as I know x2go has taken over the upstream support for the opensource nx library and contines to do so even when their own server is incompatible with the others.
http://wiki.x2go.org/doku.php/wiki:libs:nx-libs
http://code.x2go.org/releases/source/nx-libs/

Last edited by progandy (2013-09-05 11:22:45)

xtian · 2013-09-05 17:12:19

Every open source community has its "way of doing things". I really should thank you K, because your post was very informative. And as far as anyone starting trouble, I'm just jaw'n. You know, "He who smelt it delt it." haha.

Speaking of way of doing things. CentOSers are very persnickty about how you're supposed to maintain your system in terms of non-core packages etc. etc. And x2go is not coming up in the forum, wiki, or in the repositories (via the commanline tool yum). Read the response to my question about installing vim7.4. Hell, you can do _whatever you want_ to your system, but that doesn't mean anyone's going to help you when you run into trouble.

cfr · 2013-09-10 00:32:32

xtian wrote:

Speaking of way of doing things. CentOSers are very persnickty about how you're supposed to maintain your system in terms of non-core packages etc. etc. And x2go is not coming up in the forum, wiki, or in the repositories (via the commanline tool yum). Read the response to my question about installing vim7.4. Hell, you can do _whatever you want_ to your system, but that doesn't mean anyone's going to help you when you run into trouble.

That comment strikes me as perfectly reasonable. The comment is pointing out that you are trying to use the wrong tool to do the job. The tool in this case is the distro - CentOS is not intended to be used in this way (for this job). Of course, if you insist on using a spanner to hammer nails, you are free to do so. But you can't really expect your local DIY shop to help you use the spanner when the nails don't go in straight rather than suggesting you use a hammer instead.

It is just like somebody who comes here and asks how they can stick with a known-stable set of packages while getting security updates. That's not what Arch is designed for so if you try to use it that way, you'll have a hard time. Of course, you are free to do so if you wish. But if you ask for help, you'll be pointed to another distro because that is the right answer.

It has nothing to do with being "persnickty". The answer is the most helpful answer somebody can give you.

Note: I'm assuming the description of CentOS, Fedora etc. is correct. I know the description of Fedora to be correct but I don't actually know anything about CentOS. But on the assumption that description is also correct, that answer is the most helpful answer somebody could give you, even if it is not the answer you wanted to hear.

Last edited by cfr (2013-09-10 00:33:54)

Mr.Elendig · 2013-09-10 11:52:02

You might want to look at spice unless you *must* use NX, in which case you are probably best off with buying a couple of NX licenses.

Last edited by Mr.Elendig (2013-09-10 11:53:37)

xtian · 2013-09-13 13:32:48

I've been running Vim 7.4b since March 2012. By comparison Fedora 17 was released on May 2012 and is already reached End of Life. Its hardly the "latest, shiniest stuff" in any tool box. haha

The "compile from source" no-no is certainly an important distinction given the strict support window CentOS is designed to maintain. (CentOS 6 is not scheduled to reach EOL untill 2017.

But come on. We're talking about Vim--a text editor. Its not installing dependencies which will then wreak havoc with other processes. Its not running as a daemon doing whatever it wants all by its self.

Sheesh. Wrench as a hammer? One thing is for sure, newbies to any platform get equal ribbing at CentOS and Arch. Get used to it, I'll be here for a while. hahah

tomk · 2013-09-13 14:19:32

xtian wrote:

But come on. We're talking about Vim--a text editor.

Really? I thought we were talking about x2go/freenx.

xtian · 2013-09-17 21:54:22

I really wanted tomk's comment to be the last word, but alas I need to clean up this thread. (^_^)

Now I understand how the AUR repository works. I got get the Arch repo installed. And I finally found the interoperability answer to my question I was looking for on the CentOS FreeNX wiki page:

3. Installing the NX Client
You can install either opennx or nxclient from NoMachine.

PS. I'm surprised the Wikipedia article doesn't have a table explaining the interoperability of the various remote desktop applications. But I suppose since NoMachine is no longer open source, HTML5 is the way to go.

Last edited by xtian (2013-09-17 21:55:05)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-09-04 21:11:38

[SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#2 2013-09-04 21:33:44

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#3 2013-09-04 23:26:57

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#4 2013-09-04 23:48:06

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#5 2013-09-05 09:41:30

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#6 2013-09-05 10:47:03

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#7 2013-09-05 11:04:42

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#8 2013-09-05 11:21:39

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#9 2013-09-05 17:12:19

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#10 2013-09-10 00:32:32

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#11 2013-09-10 11:52:02

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#12 2013-09-13 13:32:48

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#13 2013-09-13 14:19:32

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

#14 2013-09-17 21:54:22

Re: [SOLVED] Basic question about x2go, freenx, etc. compatibility

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