Serving Up a New Desktop with VNC Server 241

3. Click Create Personal Invitation.

The Personal Invitation window appears, showing the display information and password that the other user will need to view your desktop.

When you create an invitation, other users have one hour to connect to your desktop using the password displayed on your computer.

4. Share this information with the other user. You can phone your friend and read him the Host information and Password, or e-mail the information to him.

When another user connects to your desktop, a window will appear asking if you want to accept the connection. (The window includes the name of the other computer so you can see who’s trying to connect.)

5. If you check the Allow Remote User to Control

Keyboard and Mouse box, your friend will be able to take control of your computer from his desktop.

6. Click Accept Connection.

The other user will see the contents of your desktop and be able to take control, if you chose to do that.

Serving Up a New Desktop with VNC Server

The KDE Desktop Sharing tool is perfect when you want to let another user see your desktop, but VNC can do much more than that.

When you run a VNC server on your Linux computer, VNC creates a new desktop that you can see only with a VNC viewer. The difference between KDE Desktop Sharing and a VNC server is that, with KDE Desktop Sharing, two or more users are looking at the same desktop at the same time. The VNC server creates a private desktop for the viewer.

If you need to download VNC server, get the RPM version from www.realvnc.com. Check out Technique 17 for information about installing RPM packages.

The first time you run the VNC server, VNC creates a new directory named ~/.vnc. VNC also creates an xstartup file in ~/.vnc. By default, the VNC server assumes that you want to run the twm window manager instead of KDE or GNOME. twm is a really old, nasty window manager, which is as powerful and friendly as a thermonuclear fly swatter.

To start your normal desktop environment (KDE or GNOME) in the new VNC desktop instead of twm:

$ mkdir ~/.vnc

$ cp .Xclients ~/.vnc/xstartup

Now open a terminal window, and enter the command:

$ vncserver -depth 24

The first time you run vncserver, you’re prompted to create a password. Remember that password because you’ll need it to connect to the new desktop.

vncserver displays your new desktop address:

New ‘kobe:1 (freddie)’ desktop is kobe:1

That’s all there is to it. Your local machine is now ready to serve VNC viewers.

If you’re setting up a Windows host, visit www. realvnc.com and download the executables. Using the Setup Wizard, Windows installation is simple and fast, and Windows takes good care of you — right down to putting the icons on the desktop.

VNC Server and Viewer are out there for OSX, but the Web sites are a bit nomadic in nature right now. Just use your search engine, and you’ll find good workable renditions so you can share desktops with your Mac.