I can't believe I am reduced to this...

I finally decided to try something I've never bothered with before: X over SSH. Despite it's pro's and con's, I actually do like the X Windows System for the most part, but rarely have time to go spelunking through X.Org.



I installed XMing on my Windows machine (sal1600), booted my laptop (dixie), and ran some tests using Xming.exe / PuTTY.exe - highly successful, and quiet a look on my face, when I saw gVim on FreeBSD, pop up on Windows XP!


Connection link is as follows:

WRT54G Router/Access Point  ->|
                              |  <- WPA Personal /w AES algorithm
dixie   -> ~54Mbps 802.11g  ->|
sal1600 -> ~54Mbps 802.11g  ->|

Personally, I would prefer Gigabit Ethernet connection and some good cat-6 cable, then drop the router for something a bit more direct... but I can't lol.


dixie runs FreeBSD 7-STABLE; sal1600 runs Windows XP MCE (SP3).


A few quick batch files to make calling XMing easier then kicking XLaunch into 'just what I want':

==> xming-1win.bat <==
@echo off
cd /d P:\Network\Remote\Xming

start /B .\Xming.exe -clipboard -keyhook -lesspointer -unixkill -nowinkill -screen 0 1280x800@1 -swcursor

==> xming-multiwin.bat <==
@echo off
cd /d P:\Network\Remote\Xming

start /B .\Xming.exe -clipboard -keyhook -lesspointer -unixkill -nowinkill -swcursor -multiwindow

For SSH, I copied my setup in PuTTY for Dixie; enabling Compression and X tunneling, and bingo -> X11 over SSH. Launch Xming, run PuTTY -load Dixie-X11, and bingo! For the same of speed, I also changed PuTTY to using a faster encryption algorithm then what I normally use for a shell. Adding more fonts is quite a necessity, but rather limiting if you don't like 12px fonts. I can't help but wonder, if Xming would work with fonts installed on X.Org; only two ways I know to find out; grep X or test it. Note to self: double check memory of how X Servers handles fonts, against the documentation (it's been awhile). IMHO running X this way is a liability, even over SSH, and a WLAN even worse. But it is quite nice to see, even under this kind of equipment, it's actually quite usable. I so need a replacement keyboard for my laptop!!!