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Using a Laptop as a KVM (or dumb terminal) with SSH X11 forwarding

Here is my latest blog post on a method of using a laptop equipped with an X11 server as a KVM or graphical dumb terminal (not to be confused with "kernel virtual machine") to display an entire desktop environment on one of the virtual terminals of the laptop. You might be familiar with running an X11-compatible program over SSH, seeing a remote GUI app displayed on your local machine. You could also run a whole desktop environment such as "xfce4-session" over SSH and attach it to a virtual terminal (which you switch between using Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-F7, usually, on Debian-based systems).

This is nice if you have a few always-on Raspberry Pis laying around, and you usually use SSH to remote login and control them, but you would like to have a full desktop environment, not just one app, show up on your local computer.

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  • There is also waypipe which allows you to run Wayland apps over ssh.

    • Oh ffs, stop polluting every mention of X11 with your wayland crap!

    • Really? Wayland mentions are getting up there with vegans. We know already, go home!

      • While I agree Wayland still immature despite decade of development, you don't have to be a dick when voicing your opinion.

        • I wasn't at first. I didn't mention it in my original response. I said the pipewire half of the equation was working. Wayland fans downvoted me to death for it. That's what has irritated. You aren't allowed to poo-poo wayland even, if it's only excluding it from a compliment. Little brats... gotta protect it because games, and kids love their games.

          • Just because someone downvotes your comments is not an excuse to lash out to random people.

            • They aren't random. They're the wayland cult followers. People say whatever they want about a band of frothing mouthed cultists doing a downvote brigade. Go suck a toe or something, you need a binky.

              • Just a handful of downvotes baited you into a flamer and lashed out at any comment mentioning Wayland regardless the context. I never insult you or downvoted you even once and yet you keep dishing out vitriol. To make it worse, you even did it to a wrong person. Do my comment history looks like a Wayland fanboy to you? Seriously dude, you need to chill. Don't let some trolls turns you into trolls yourself.

                • Hey, the vitriol for wayland and it's followers ends when wayland ends or becomes a true full X12... or at a minimum, feature parity with X11, and doing it without other people writing hack add-ons to kluge it to work. Is it dead yet? No? Then why stop criticizing it for it being a huge distraction pulling away the real needed development effort for X?

        • Three things you can count on. Vegans, Wayland fanbois, and Arch users all telling us about their respective choice. That is being a dick.

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