Vnc Sucks

This is a temporary rant:

• I'm going to try Free Nx and compare it to VNC [VirtualNetworkComputing]. Then make a FreeNx page
  • They are completely different beasts. FreeNx is much more comparable to Microsoft's RDP or Unix X11 (which it is actually just an efficient wrapper for).
• It seems freenx is not highly publicized. Many people are still using VNC.
• I've always wanted something faster than VNC and faster than citrix without having to throw out hundreds of bucks. Free Nx may be the answer
  • Standard X11 might be your answer if your actually on a unix platform; it's perfectly usable over a lan. Over a slow lan/internet, FreeNx might be a win.
• I've wanted protocol to integrate into a text editor so that I could use multiple PC's and remotely compile. Free Nx may be the answer.. VNC wasn't.
  • I think telnet might be your answer, although again X, citrix or freenx could do it with a little setup.

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Vnc is probably the only technology that does what it does, and is surprisingly good, even at some things that it doesn't do. Servers are available for pretty much all platforms, and viewers are (with no exceptions that I know of) compatible with all servers, even across forks. Its trivially installable on remote machines. Not great for console mode apps, but that's what telnet et al is for.

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I've tried Vnc over the years, and just now ( April 2005 ) installed a current build of the FreeVnc?. It actually captures some of the windowing animation. UsedToSuck? is now PrettyGood? or maybe even Impressive.

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Some other things that do the same thing that VNC does:

• PC Anywhere
• PC Duo

Some other things that do it at a more appropriate level:

• X11
• Microsoft Remote Desktop
• SSH

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Maybe VNC sucks, and maybe not, but it's by far the best way to jump GUI programs between Windows and Unix programs.

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CategoryRant (self identified as such), CategorySucks (by definition)