Windows terminal services in Linux with Rdesktop
TERMINAL CROSSING
Windows terminal services in Linux with Rdesktop
The Rdesktop project, launched by Matthew Chapman, is an open source client for Windows terminal servers. Rdesktop, which implements Microsoft’s sparsely documented RDP protocol on Linux, adapts
flexibly to available network bandwidth, giving users the same options for accessing terminal servers that Windows systems have. SeamlessRDP by Cendio takes this solution one step further by giving users the ability to launch individual applications such as Word or the Microsoft Management Console on Linux. RDP is based on the T.120/ T.128 standard (formerly T.SHARE) by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Microsoft extended this protocol and introduced it to Windows NT version 4 as Windows terminal services. Windows Terminal Server gives multiple users the ability to display a remote desktop on the local machine and launch applications on the terminal
server, just as with X Window. Resourcehungry Windows applications can thus run on powerful server machines instead of on the local desktop.
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