Re: [gentoo-user] Remotely working on Gentoo systems

[J. Roeleveld]

On Tuesday 08 June 2010 02:14:55 Jake Moe wrote:
> I've got two Gentoo boxes, and would like to run X apps from both on one
> display.  From reading up on it, it appears that while this is possible,
> it's also not recommended from a security standpoint, and the few HOWTOs
> I've found for it seem to be 4-6 years old.  Can anyone tell me:

Security: Yes, it is not recommended, however, if you trust everyone who can 
connect to your network, then it is safe enough.

> a) if this is a good idea in the first place,

Depends on what you want to achieve. If you have only one screen and/or one 
machine with a decent graphics card then it does make sense.
However, X is a very inefficient protocol. Eg. it can clog the network.

> b) should I be looking at VNC instead of remote X,

Maybe, but VNC puts the remote screen in a window.

> c) is there another option I should be looking at, and

Yes :)

> d) if there is a good HOWTO on setting up whichever is the best to use
> on a recent Gentoo system?

I use X-tunneling with ssh.
To get this to work, start with trying the following:

(machineA has screen, machineB is screenless)
on machineA # ssh -Y machineB
then, on machineB, start the program you want displaying on machineA, for 
instance firefox.

This is both easier to implement and also removes the security issues as ssh 
is encrypted.

HTH,

Joost Roeleveld