[TriLUG] attaching to remote X session (_not_ VNC)

[porter]

I think what you're looking for is "x11vnc", which is a different
beast than plain old VNC.

- VNC creates a new virtual X11 session that you can attach to.

- x11vnc attaches to your currently running X11 session and shares
it using the VNC protocol.

I have used this a lot in situations like you describe.  I am running
stuff on my PC at work.  Then I go home and I want to connect to the
stuff that running on my desktop.  I shell in, run "x11vnc", and then
run VNC against that.

Note that x11vnc shares the entire existing desktop session, and not
a single application.  But it is really good for your given use case,
checking on something left running at work and doing something quick
on the remote system.  It's a little too sluggish for working all day
from home.

My cheat notes:

TO START SHARING:
x11vnc -display :0 -scale 3/4 -forever -norepeat -rfbauth 
/home/alan/.vnc/passwd

TO STOP SHARING, BUT LEAVE DESKTOP INTACT:
killall x11vnc


Alan




> A potential scenario:
>
>   1. I leave a GUI editor open on a machine while at work.
>
>   2. I go home, and realize I forgot to save some buffers.  I want
>      to save those buffers, so that I can continue working where I
>      left off tonight.