On Wed, 2002-04-17 at 14:06, Derek Glidden wrote:
> On Wed, 2002-04-17 at 13:09, R P Herrold wrote:
> > On 17 Apr 2002, Derek Glidden wrote:
> >
> > > I think this is such an unusual request, and nobody's really actively
> > > maintaining any sort of "Linux modem pooling" software anymore, because
> > > it's mainly Windows boxes and proprietary vertical and embedded OS's
> > > that ever use modems to dial directly to each other anymore. Linux, by
> > > virtue of its inherently networkable architecture, just does everything
> > > over TCP/IP; whether via gigabit or dialup, it's still going to be
> > > TCP/IP at the bottom of it.
> >
> > hunh? What are pppd and mgetty? I run dial up links which
> > cross connect and unconnect themselves all over the country,
> > under Linux.
>
> To make PPP connections, right?
I think that's what he's trying to do here. Those PPP connections are
*most likely* just encapsulating IP traffic to a customer's private
network over a phone line (that's how I look at it, anyway). If you're
doing alternative layer-2 protocols (NetBEUI, Appletalk, etc), then you
might not be able to route it over IP without tunnelling the traffic and
bridging network segments.
If you're merely using these dialups for PCAnywhere or another remote
control package (RemotelyPossible, VNC, whatever), then I think this is
where Derek was going with his argument.
> Under Windows there are all kinds of wierd dialup remote access things
> like PCanywhere and whatever the Windows Terminal stuff is about. Under
> Linux, you just dialup to make a PPP connection, then your traffic goes
> over TCP/IP.
Derek is referring to the icky multi-userness of Windows, not really
Thin-client GUIs like with RDP and WindowsXP. Unix derivatives don't
have this "ugliness", if I'm permitted to call it that.
> There's no such thing as "PCAnywhere for Linux" because it's not
> necessary. That funcionality is part of the basic design of the OS.
> That's what I meant.
Those that know Derek know that he is simplifying things here for the
benefit of all SLUG readers. He's really not trying to be daft ;)
The closest thing to PCAnywhere for Linux is X11 native or VNC, but both
are unneccesary. The Unix architecture and ideals that Linux
distributions are based upon require only asynchronous tty sessions to
manage the boxen. Everything is text based behind the scenes, there is
no need for more silliness.
The real question still remains: what are you trying to maintain on your
customer's network? How are you trying to maintain it? Is it simply
telnetting to machines, or some form of remote control of the desktop of
a machine? The more you dig into the problem, the more options and
alternatives become apparent.
- Ian C. Blenke <icblenke@nks.net> <ian@blenke.com>
http://ian.blenke.com
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