Can LinuxVNC share control of a single desktop/display like WinVNC?

[tgray@adacplastics.com]

On 16 Apr 2000, Darren Tay <vnc-list "at" uk.research.att.com> wrote: 


> Hi all,
> 
> I've used WinVNC before, and am now trying out VNC on Linux
> (Mandrake702). I am new to Unix/Linux.

Welcome to the fold!  I'm confident that you will enjoy working with 
Linux, it takes more preserverence than windows, but it also allows 
you to take control of your computer back from the developer's of 
the OS.
 
> The thing I found most useful and cool about WinVNC was the ability to
> *share* control of a single desktop. For example, if I wanted to show
> a friend how to do something or vice-versa, he could simply browse to
> my VNC, and both parties will be looking at the *same display*, and
> both can (take turns to) input.

That option is still available.  Check out the documentation links 
that are on the VNC website for the appropriate command switches 
to make a VNC server be always shared (I think it's as simple as 
"vncserver :# -alwaysshared").  That will enable even the Java client 
to connect shared without jumping through hoops to do it.  

Note that it's also possible to make the client connect shared with 
a switch but I don't know what it is off the top of my head, I'd have 
to rtfm.  ( I don't use it, thusly, I don't know it.)

> When I got VNC for linux (3.3.3R1), I was disappointed that it wasnt
> designed to work the way WinVNC does. Here, the client gets a separate
> display and desktop, and the server-user cannot interact wif the
> client-user.

Don't be disappointed.  With the Linux (or more accurately Unix) 
vnc server, you have the option of either sharing a desktop 
environment or having seperate ones, whereas with windows, you 
just get the one.  You will find this is more often the case than not:  
That Linux gives you all the options of windows plus a couple more.
 
> One solution I'm aware of is to this is to use a loopback, so that the
> server-user also controls thru the VNC and through to X, then a
> client-user could also log in to that same display rite?

Correct.  But it's not really a loopback.  Start a vncserver, then 
start X on your linux box.  Use that X session to connect to the 
vncserver with the -fullscreen option on the command line of the 
vncviewer and voila.  Just make sure it's shared if you want to allow 
some other guy to access it.

> Is there any other way out? Where the server-user doesnt have to go
> through VNC? Can I get all applications to send their display to 2
> displays? i.e. display:0 to normal X and display:1 to VNC, in
> parallel?
> 
> Also have a very basic question. Where (Mandrake7) can I set the
> "display environment variable"? This is with reference to this line
> found on http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/start.html "You can cause
> applications to use them by setting the DISPLAY environment variable
> to the VNC server you want..."

"You can cause applications to use them
by setting the DISPLAY environment
variable to the VNC server you want,
or by starting the application with the
 -display option. For example: 

  xterm -display snoopy:2 &"

They are talking about when you start a program, you can tell it 
when you run it which vncsession (or more generally which X 
session) you want it to go to.  For programs that will accept it, the 
"-display" switch, or variable followed by X session will do the trick. 
 Thus, for the example above the syntax could be said to be.

[program] -display [Xserver]
   xterm   -display  snoopy:2

> Thank you very much
> Regards,
> darren
> gluino "at" bigfoot.com  <- private email is ok.

"If you don't think life is interesting,
you're not paying enough attention." me, 1987-ish.
--Tim Gray
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