blog.lundscape.com » Ubuntu

FreeNX on Ubuntu

Zachary Lund — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:06:18 +0000

I have been using FreeNX on Ubuntu Linux as a terminal server for remote graphical access. (It’s similar to Remote Desktop on Windows.) It’s fast and works quite well on slow Internet connections. NoMachine provides clients for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, which means I can connect to my machine from anywhere.

Most of the instructions are available in Ubuntu’s documentation for FreeNX. First, add the repository, update the package listings, and install the FreeNX package:

add-apt-repository ppa:freenx-team aptitude update aptitude install --quiet --assume-yes freenx

Finally, set up FreeNX. I opt to use the default SSH key pairs (“–setup-nomachine-key”) because it doesn’t require additional configuration for the client to connect. I added the “–clean –purge” to fix authentication errors that I began having after I upgraded to Ubuntu 9.10.

/usr/lib/nx/nxsetup --install --setup-nomachine-key --clean --purge

After I install a client, I can connect to my computer from anywhere and use it as though I were sitting in front of it.

Simple Scan on Ubuntu

Zachary Lund — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:24:17 +0000

I have an HP ScanJet 5300C scanner and have had no luck getting it to run on Mac OS X after 10.3 Panther, Windows Server 2003, and Ubuntu Hardy Heron. After I upgraded to Ubuntu Karmic Koala, the XSane Image Scanner applications would scan a preview but would not actually save the image. (That’s more progress than I have had for a few years.) Next, I installed Simple Scan, which scanned and saved the image nicely. The program is a little simpler than I would like, but it beats the complexity of XSane. More importantly, it worked.

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

Zachary Lund — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:45:53 +0000

I finally upgraded my brother’s desktop computer and my desktop computer to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. Prior, both had been running Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, which was stable but was starting to show its age. I’ve always found that bleeding edge works well for desktops and tried and true works better for servers.

Ubuntu 9.10 works well, but I have discovered a few unresolved bugs that have proven to be annoyances. I’ve resigned myself to not being able to burn optical discs under Karmic because of a bug. This extends beyond Brasero to include the Wodim command line burning tool. After I upgraded, I switched from Rhythmbox to Banshee because it has better iPod syncing capabilities. However, those capabilities are a bit flaky, and I had to use this hack to make things work.

Regardless, it was a helpful and necessary upgrade. I look forward to the Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx update in April.

Finger Daemon on Ubuntu

Zachary Lund — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:18:58 +0000

Since I set up my Ubuntu servers and desktops at home I have wanted to be able to remotely finger the different computers on my network. By default, a remote finger request will look like this:

zac@dakara:~$ finger @athos
[athos.lund]
finger: connect: Connection refused

The solution is to install the required packages:

apt-get install inetutils-inetd fingerd

Then start the Internet super server:

/etc/init.d/inetutils-inetd start

According to the package details: “Inetd is the daemon that listens on various TCP and UDP ports and spawns programs that can’t or won’t do it for themselves.”

Now a remote finger request will look like:

zac@dakara:~$ finger @athos
[athos.lund]
Login     Name           Tty      Idle  Login Time   Office     Office Phone
zac       Zachary Lund   pts/2          May  4 20:12 (dakara.lund)

The contents of the file /etc/inetd.conf show what is necessary for finger:

finger		stream	tcp	nowait	nobody	/usr/sbin/tcpd	/usr/sbin/in.fingerd

It simply takes an incoming finger request and spawns the appropriate process.