x11vnc should create a menu item
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
x11vnc (Debian) |
Fix Released
|
Unknown
|
|||
x11vnc (Ubuntu) |
Fix Released
|
Low
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: x11vnc
As far as I can tell, x11vnc doesn't create a menu item [1], which may be confusing to some users, e.g., newbies using Xubuntu and needing a remote desktop. It should create a menu item, perhaps under "System Tools" and perhaps using some options like "-timeout 300 -unixpw -gui". I can make an argument that -gui might be confusing for some users. And if it's used as a remote desktop t-shooting tool, -unixpw might be a problem since the support person is unlikly to have a local account and sharing user passwords is always a bad idea. Perhaps a "x11vnc Remote Desktop" and "x11vnc for Desktop T-Shooting" (using, e.g., -timeout 300 -passwd tsh00t)? Though that begs the question about how to tell the user what the password is. A splash-screen might help.
Regardless, x11vnc is extremely impressive and I've very pleased to have found it! See also: https:/
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_
DISTRIB_
DISTRIB_
$ apt-cache policy x11vnc
x11vnc:
Installed: 0.9.3.dfsg.
Candidate: 0.9.3.dfsg.
Version table:
*** 0.9.3.dfsg.
500 http://
100 /var/lib/
_______
[1] $ dpkg -L x11vnc | sort
/.
/usr
/usr/bin
/usr/bin/x11vnc
/usr/share
/usr/share/doc
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/
/usr/share/man
/usr/share/man/man1
/usr/share/
affects: | libvncserver (Ubuntu) → x11vnc (Ubuntu) |
Changed in x11vnc (Debian): | |
status: | Unknown → Fix Released |
You probably don't want to use -unixpw, because that will force SSL mode
(the -ssl option, so the password is not sent in clear text.)
That's a good thing, but since nearly no VNC viewers support SSL basically
no one will be able to connect. The only SSL viewers I know of are SSVNC,
x11vnc's java viewer (which is no longer included in the debian pkg),
and ultravnc's singleclick java viewer.
Although not much used, there is a vino-like mode intended for naive
users. Perhaps something like this:
x11vnc -gui tray=setpass -rfbport 5900
x11vnc -gui icon=setpass -rfbport 5900
The 'tray' one will try to embed the tk window in the system tray.
Sometimes that can be a problem, so as a backup the 'icon' mode can run
as a small window on the desktop. 'tray' seems to work with xfce.
The '=setpass' creates an initial properties dialog with the naive user,
where he can set the session password, enable connections, and decide
if they want a confirmation window to appear when someone connects.
They must explicitly enable connections before anyone can connect, so
that probably precludes needing the '-timeout 300' option to only give a
5 minute window (although that would be handy for a troubleshooting mode).
The '-rfbport 5900' is just to force vnc-display :0 instead of auto
probing for an open port which the user would be unable to figure out.
Anyway, that is the intent of the tray=setpass mode. It is still rough
around the edges and likely has a some bugs, but it might be usable.