PROJECTS ON THE MOVE

Most power users have at least two computers. Figure 1 shows a typical home office scenario with two displays, two keyboards, and two mice cluttering the desk. One machine might be a reliable office system while you use the other to experiment with unstable program versions, new distributions, and kernel releases. This configuration is ideal for a Linux Magazine author who regularly tries out new programs on a lab computer while recording the results on a stable system. Space on the Desk Magazine authors and other users often wish for a way to save space on the desk without sacrificing the ability to work on two computers. Virtual Network Computing (VNC), is one possible approach. A VNC server [1] – both commercial and free versions of the software are available – gives a client the ability to display and control another computer’s GUI.