Question about thin clients.

[Stuart Morrow]

First, some definitions:

TRUE THIN CLIENT
        A machine that boots an OS image off the network, then uses that OS to log into a central server.

DISKLESS NODE (a.k.a., FALSE thin client)
        A machine that boots an OS image off the network, then uses that OS as a normal fat-client OS.

Are LinuxMCE thin clients true thin clients, or are they just diskless nodes?

On a diskless node, apps all run locally.  The filesystem may be remote, but all the processing is still local.

On a real thin client, *everything* is on the remote computer.  On a real thin client (such as LTSP on GNU/Linux, or those weird SunRays on Solaris), absolutely everything, including processing and so on, runs on the server - it's a bit like VNCing into the server actually, except not so crude or bandwidth-hungry.

So, are LinuxMCE thin clients fully thin, or are they merely diskless nodes?

Supposing that they're diskless nodes, would it be possible to install LTSP on the Core machine and therefore have true thin clients?

[Greg]

LinuxMCE MDs are "fat" clients. They can (but don't have to) be diskless network boot clients.

[Stuart Morrow]

Ah, OK.  That's not what I'm interested in, then.  I guess I'll just go with ordinary Kubuntu + LTSP, then (I want to be able to, for example, be using a thin client, detach my session, go to some other room in the house, and reattach my session from a different thin client, for example).

Well, thanks for you help - I'm still interested in LinuxMCE, for its home automation stuff anf stuff - but I'm no longer interested in using it as a terminal server for thin computers.

[posde]

Hello Stuart,

you might want to start with LinuxMCE, which will install a full blown Kubuntu system, and later add the LTSP modules.

OT-BTW: How do detach a session and continue that session on another thin client with LTSP? I could not find anything during my run with LTSP (v4.x)

rgds
Oliver

[Greg]

LinuxMCE MDs aren't true thin clients, but there is the "follow me" feature, where your media follows you from MD to MD.

[Stuart Morrow]

OT-BTW: How do detach a session and continue that session on another thin client with LTSP? I could not find anything during my run with LTSP (v4.x)

Actually, I don't know - I had just assumed that it was a possible feature of real thin clients, as theoretically speaking it certainly is within what the technical definition of thin client could include (after all, I do the same thing all the time with SSH + Screen).

In other words, I never actually looked up if detachable sessions was a feature available in LTSP - but I won't be too miffed if it isn't, because it's not exactly my most-wanted quality in a home network.

Stuart.

[ddamron]

You can detach and reattach commandlines with screen...
if that helps...

Dan

[posde]

Thanks, I know and use screen. The thing I am looking for as sort of like RDP on Windows Terminal Servers, where you detach your session, go home, and reconnect.

IIRC only NX does this on Linux, but I am not sure, hence my question.

rgds
Oliver