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I've been in the same situation a short time ago. |
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Finally I decided to buy a cheap notebook (ASUS AMD 1GHz, 8 Gb RAM) |
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for 265 Euro, only -- running Gentoo, of course. |
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I've installed a private wireless network. |
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So my wife can sit anywhere and she can still connect to our "family |
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server" if she likes. |
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|
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If I had to buy a monitor, graphics card, keyboard and a better |
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power supply, that would have beeen more expensive. |
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Furthermore the notebook solution is more flexible. |
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|
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Helmut. |
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|
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|
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On 01/30/2012 12:29:37 AM, Grant wrote: |
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> >> I'd like to have multiple users working from separate monitors, |
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> >> keyboards, and mice, but all connected to a single Gentoo |
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> computer. |
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> >> The main purpose is to minimize sys admin duties but hardware and |
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> >> power requirements would also be minimized. |
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> >> |
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> >> Apparently this is called "multiseat" and native support in Xorg |
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> might |
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> >> not be ready for primetime: |
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> >> |
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> >> http://wiki.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/Multiseat |
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> >> http://vignatti.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/multiseat-roadmap |
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> >> |
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> >> There is a configuration tool for Xorg multiseat called MDM: |
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> >> |
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> >> http://wiki.c3sl.ufpr.br/multiseat/index.php/Mdm |
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> >> |
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> >> but from what I've read it isn't ideal. Besides Xorg multiseat |
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> I've |
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> >> read about LTSP and a few others: |
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> >> |
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> >> http://www.ltsp.org |
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> >> http://www.thinstation.org |
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> >> http://automseat.sourceforge.net |
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> >> http://www.openthinclient.org |
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> >> |
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> >> There are also a lot of proprietary options. Is LTSP the way to |
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> go? |
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> > |
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> > It may be, but as with all thin client models you would need a |
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> terminal |
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> > computer for each user. |
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> > |
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> > If you only have one machine and monitors, keyboards and mice for |
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> each user |
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> > then you'll need multiple video cards (and a strong power supply) |
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> for your |
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> > only PC. In this case something like |
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> http://automseat.sourceforge.net may be |
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> > more appropriate. However, I have not used anything like this set |
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> up to offer |
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> > an opinion on performance. |
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> > |
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> > At work we use thin clients running Debian to serve MSWindows |
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> server |
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> desktop |
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> > and apps to users. This setup uses the Citrix ica protocol, but |
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> I'm |
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> thinking |
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> > that FreeNX coupled with VNC or relevant KDE or Gnome remote |
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> desktop |
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> > implementation would probably work nicely and offer LAN and remote |
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> connection |
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> > security at the same time. |
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> > -- |
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> > Regards, |
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> > Mick |
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> |
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> If I throw out installing a separate OS on a separate machine for |
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> each |
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> workstation and all of the proprietary thin-client protocols, I think |
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> I have 3 options: |
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> |
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> 1. Connect monitors, USB keyboards, and USB mice directly to a server |
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> with multiple video cards. I found a motherboard with 6 PCI-E slots: |
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> |
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> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128508 |
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> |
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> 6 video cards could be installed for 6 workstations if the server |
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> goes |
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> headless, and even more if multi-headed video cards are used. Xorg |
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> requires some special configuration for this but this discussion from |
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> 2010 sounds like it's something that is actually done: |
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> |
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> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-836950-start-0.html |
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> |
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> These guys got it working in 2006: |
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> |
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> http://www.linuxgazette.net/124/smith.html |
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> |
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> 2. Set up a separate thin client for each workstation and run LTSP on |
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> the server. This seems inferior to #1 because it requires setting up |
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> and maintaining the LTSP server and client configuration, NFS, |
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> xinetd, |
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> tftp, dnsmasq, and PXE-boot. Bandwidth would also be limited |
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> compared |
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> to #1 and hardware and power requirements would be much greater. |
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> |
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> 3. Run a Plugable thin client for each workstation: |
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> |
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> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PXPPNA |
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> |
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> This likely requires running "Userful Multiseat Linux" on my server |
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> which is only packaged up for Ubuntu. The Plugable thin client |
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> connects to the server via USB 2.0 which makes me wonder if it could |
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> be made to work without Userful Multiseat Linux as a USB video card |
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> and input devices, but I imagine drivers for the video card and |
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> bandwidth over USB could be a problem. |
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> |
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> I think #1 is the way to go but I'd love to hear anyone else's |
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> opinion |
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> on that. Has anyone here ever set up multiseat in Xorg? |
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> |
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> - Grant |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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> |
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|
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|
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|
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-- |
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Helmut Jarausch |
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Lehrstuhl fuer Numerische Mathematik |
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RWTH - Aachen University |
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D 52056 Aachen, Germany |