X + VNC + SSH + Keyboard Shortcuts = Dueling Network WMs?

nil0lab asks: "I want to use keystrokes to switch between various systems and go from workspace to workspace within each system with another set of keystrokes." By using a combination of VNC, SSH and the right window manager, nil0lab wants to be able to look at any desktop on his network. Sounds cool, and I bet there are a lot of us who could put a trick like this to use. nil0lab has a partial solution, however there are still issues that need to be solved, and this is where he needs your help.

"Here's my partial solution:

1. I run blackbox (google cache) with bbkeys (google cache) on my local box (debian+xfree86-4). This gives me workspaces. I programmed ctrl-alt-1 through ctrl-alt-9 to give me workspaces 1-9.
2. In each workspace I run Tridia's version of vncviewer to connect to a different remote box (debian, suse, aix). (Actually, one is to the local box for consistency and my mobility)
3. I run the same window manager on each of the remote systems. I tried using blackbox with bbkeys there too but with -config to define different keys but there seems to be some conflict. I settled on flwm for the remote boxes: its minimal decorations and low memory impact seems to give good response over 256Kbps - T1 grade lines + ssh. It also supports keyboard-oriented operation (ctrl-F1 thru ctrl-F12) to get to different workspaces. (Tho Ctrl-F8 pos up the vncviewer's pop-up menu.)

Downsides: (1) flwm seems to support switching windows within a workspace fairly well, but since focus follows mouse, any little bump of the mouse changes the focus back. (2) copy and paste don't work very well (first you gotta copy, then you gotta use the popup thingy to transfer remote to local, then you go to the other one and use its popup thingy to transfer local to remote, then you paste, and then it doesn't work half the time and you have no idea which step wasn't done just so or there's some limitation.) (3) each vncviewer is in a window so it is subject to being minimized or defocused or resized. tried the vncviewer's fullscreen mode but it seemed to block changing workspaces under the local bbkeys control.

Is there a better way?"