Splashtop's Cliff Miller Talks About Their New Linux App (Video)

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Splashtop's Cliff Miller Talks About Their New Linux App (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on Monday December 3, 2012 @08:58AM from the around-the-corner-or-around-the-world-is-all-the-same-to-me dept.

Yes, you can now have full remote access to your home computer or a server at work that's running Ubuntu Linux. Really any Linux distro, although only Ubuntu is formally supported by Splashtop. What? You say you already control your home and work Linux computers from your Android tablet with VNC? That there's a whole bunch of Android VNC apps out there already? And plenty for iOS, too? You're right. But Cliff says Splashtop is better than the others. It can play video at a full 30 frames per second, and has low enough latency (depending on your connection) that you can play video games remotely in between taking care of that list of server issues your boss emailed to you. Or perhaps, in between work tasks, you take a dip in the ocean, because you're working from the beach, not from a stuffy office. It seems that work and living locations get a little more remote from each other every year, and Splashtop is helping to make that happen. This video interview is, itself, an example of how our world has gotten flatter; Cliff was in China and I was in Florida. The connection wasn't perfect, but the fact that we could have this conversation at all is a wonder. Please note, too, that while Cliff Miller is now Chief Marketing Officer for Splashtop, he was also the founder and first CEO of TurboLinux, so he is not new to Linux. And Splashtop is the company that supplied the "instant on" Linux OS a lot of computer manufacturers bundled with their Windows computers for a few years. Now, of course, they're focusing on the remote desktop, and seem to be making a go of it despite heavy competition in that market niche.

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Better than all the others?!? by crazyjj · 2012-12-03 08:58 · Score: -1, Offtopic

His is a penis of extraordinary magnitude.
He has our gratitude.

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
1. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:29 · Score: -1
  
  Best
  Comment
  Ever.
2. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 11:05 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Around 2007, Microsoft realised tech sites like Slashdot had a significant involvement in the very public rejection of Vista as a replacement for XP. They hired several reputation management companies, including Waggener Edstrom and Burson Marsteller to manage their online presence before the W7 release.
  One of the results of that was that the reputation mangers ran hundreds of sock-puppets in blogs and news aggregators, like Slashdot and Reddit. They swamped the discussions, including those unrelated to their OS with scripted comments based on a few themes - "Have you tried it yet?" "Much faster than XP" etc etc. There was no opportunity to discuss Linux/FOSS or any other non-proprietary effort without wading through dozens of highly moderated pro-Win 7 postings. Pretty much every first post was a Microsoft-favorable pamphlet.
  The result was that almost anyone with a real interest in tech abandoned the site. There are still a few of the old die-hards here, but it's mostly marketers and sock-puppets now.
3. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-03 12:16 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  But, have you tried it? It's much faster than XP.
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
4. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-03 12:20 · Score: -1
  
  Ok, here's my real reply. The content on the front page is what dictates traffic to the site. There is a demand for interesting tech news, and if slashdot is unwilling or unable to supply that in a timely manner - well, someone else will.
  Your teachers had it wrong - it's not supply and demand. It's demand and supply. That is an important difference that autistic spectrum people can't understand - or they understand but never think to apply it.
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
5. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 12:31 · Score: -1
  
  There is a demand for interesting tech news, and if slashdot is unwilling or unable to supply that in a timely manner - well, someone else will.
  So your answer is to let Microsoft to destroy Slashdot, and for us to move on to another site?
  What happens when Microsoft begins embracing the next site? Do we pack up and move on again? And again? And again?
  Where and when do real people make a stand against these manipulators? Where and when do we choose to identify, shame and evict THEM, instead of meekly rolling over and letting them take our decades of words and thoughts and pervert them into this slimy, weak astroturf marketing venture?
6. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-03 12:36 · Score: -1
  
  It has nothing to do with Microsoft. Microsoft does not control what news is posted. You are autistic; please let the adult deal with all the bad people. You work on that eye contact thing.
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
7. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 14:45 · Score: -1
  
  You were doing so very well up to now ... (Score -9, inane, comment)
8. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 20:15 · Score: -1
  
  What's wrong with you, immediately going on the attack with accusations of autism? Not once, but twice in a row. Got some personal issues you want off your chest?
9. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-04 01:01 · Score: -1
  
  No personal issues; just a really clear pattern where the autistic person takes any news of the day and tries to use it to steer things towards one of his pet issues. Neurological issue, clear and plain.
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
10. Re:Better than all the others?!? by somersault · 2012-12-04 02:14 · Score: 0
  
  Ah.. sweet, sweet irony..
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
11. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-04 02:48 · Score: -1
  
  That sounds like a cute comment, but the person I was responding to was clearly off-point, and I was only pointing out that fact. When he persisted in a way that showed that he did not understand - and just continued to make a point that had nothing to do with the subject, then the pattern was clear.
  That I presupposed a reason for his actions is beside the point.
  So, your snarky comment was misapplied. But on slashdot, that might still get you upvotes; so the actual reason you made your comment might be validated.
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
12. Re:Better than all the others?!? by somersault · 2012-12-04 03:36 · Score: 0
  
  I don't consider it misapplied. You mentioned autism in your first "real comment". So you were also in fact bringing up a pet topic that honestly doesn't have much to do with [insert any tech company here] hate on Slashdot, or in fact anywhere on the internet.
  Haters gonna hate, as they say. It's just a human trait, not an autistic one. People love to complain. In common websites like Facebook people complain about popular culture like Justin Bieber. Here we're a bit more geeky, so we complain about tech companies.
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
13. Re:Better than all the others?!? by drsmack1 · 2012-12-04 05:13 · Score: -1
  
  >> I don't consider it misapplied.
  You disagree. Fine, but I doubt you can back that up. Bear in mind whilst you scramble to justify your comment so as to never have to backtrack, that I was specifically speaking to his complaint that Microsoft astroturfers were in any way responsible for a drop in readership. That is stupid and was clearly (as I accurately pointed out) his attempt to steer the conversation into an area of one of his pet peeves.
  >> You mentioned autism in your first "real comment"
  Yes, because it applies to slashdot (both in how the articles are chosen and spun, and the commenters) in general. I did not call him autistic in that reply; I only mentioned it to allow him to see a pattern in himself (if present). His reply to mine verified both that he *is* in the ASD spectrum and that he cannot see how he is acting in a manner that confirms it.
  >> So you were also in fact bringing up a pet topic
  I never said I wasn't. But it was completely on-topic as a reply to his ridiculous post.
  >> Haters gonna hate, as they say. It's just a human trait, not an autistic one.
  This has nothing to do with anything that I have posted on slashdot; so I am going to conclude that this is *your* pet topic, and one that you have artificially inserted into the conversation in order to arrange an airing of your views.
  I was not speaking about complaining in general, I was pointing out that his comment was off-base, inaccurate, unsupportable, and entirely arrived at through a defective cognitive process - one which completely fits a specific kind of defect that I continuously see in ASD individuals who have little insight into their behavior.
  Of course none of this was in any way unclear - except to those who cognitive processes are susceptible to poisoning by their own internal issues.
  I was doing him a favor, but I don't expect you to understand.
  As someone who is free of the vast majority of human biases, it is completely obvious to me when I see them. Of course, this lack of biases on my part is an accident of nature; not the result of a lifetime of deductive reason.
  And before you knee-jerk out your reaction to that last statement, consider this additional one:
  "Everyone is the same, all known variations of human intellect and makeup are known and have been studied. Because of this, I feel comfortable telling people that their self-described abilities are impossible when I cannot reconcile them with accepted science or my own experience."
  Clearly this last statement is patently absurd; but you would have to believe it in order to say that I cannot be correct about my lack of biases.
  Also bear in mind that "bias" does not mean the same things as "opinion." You might want to look up cognitive bias and then examine the full (known) list before replying (if replying in an informed manner is important for you).
  
  --
  Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
14. Re:Better than all the others?!? by somersault · 2012-12-04 05:49 · Score: 0
  
  was specifically speaking to his complaint that Microsoft astroturfers were in any way responsible for a drop in readership. That is stupid
  What? It's not stupid.. here's a comment I posted yesterday where I said I stopped visiting for a while because of this very issue. You are showing some kind of cognitive bias simply by saying that it's stupid/impossible.
  I don't see what there is for me to backtrack about.
  My "haters gonna hate" was referring to him hating on Microsoft, and you apparently hating that people that have autistic traits despite yourself seeming to have them too - hence the irony comment.
  
  Clearly this last statement is patently absurd; but you would have to believe it in order to say that I cannot be correct about my lack of biases.
  By the same token it's absurd to say that the tooth fairy doesn't exist, but that doesn't mean that I can't say that it's unlikely that she does. It's pretty delusional to think that your memory and reasoning processes are infallible. I've already pointed out that you made an incorrect assumption at the start of this comment.
  You could start a "No True Scotsman" type argument here where you go on to say "well, I'm not susceptible to these other biases", but I don't want to get into that. I wouldn't find it hard to believe that you're more liberal and scientific in your thought processes than most people (I consider myself the same), but that doesn't meant that you are free of cognitive biases.
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
15. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-04 07:46 · Score: 0
  
  Sigh . . .
  >> What? It's not stupid.. here's a comment I posted yesterday
  >> where I said I stopped visiting for a while [slashdot.org] because of this very issue.
  This is an example of both "False-consensus effect" and "Projection bias". Like I said, you should have looked them up before your knee-jerk reply. I anticipated this (weak) line of argument, thus the reading suggestion.
  >> and you apparently hating that people
  "Apparently" you did not understand my first and second replies to him, nor my replies to you. This tells me that I'm wasting my time here.
  >> By the same token it's absurd to say that the tooth fairy doesn't exist
  This argument is misapplied; continuing your pattern in this thread of sloppy thinking. This only tells me a little about you, but more about the people you usually argue with. Dominating the intellectually challenged won't help you when you run into someone who isn't a intellectual weakling.
  >> It's pretty delusional to think that your memory and reasoning processes are infallible
  Yes, that is true. What is also true is that I never said I was infallible. Of course if all your arguments are based on a straw man to argue against, I bet your success rate is high. But of course that just makes it all the sadder.
  Have you considered why you would consciously or unconsciously choose to argue easily won points, as opposed to what the other person is actual asserting? It would better for your personal development if you actually took some time to follow my point - instead of looking for things to parse and argue about. I may be wasting my time, but the only reason I am replying to *you* is to help you.
  >> I've already pointed out that you made an incorrect assumption at the start of this comment.
  You pointed out something you disagreed with, and then failed to back up your point. This is not a "win" for you, just more fuzzy thinking. Sloppy sloppy.
  >> You could start a "No True Scotsman" type argument here where you go on to
  >> say "well, I'm not susceptible to these other biases", but I don't want to get into that
  It seems to me that you are completely incapable of pursuing that argument; so that's probably a good thing.
  >> I wouldn't find it hard to believe that you're more liberal and scientific in your
  >> thought processes than most people
  Again, fuzzy thinking, muddled output. This has nothing to do with science or being a collectivist. The fact that you would cite either of those completely unrelated references tells me that you have no idea what I am talking about.
  >> (I consider myself the same)
  I wouldn't be too proud of that. That is a VERY low bar.
  >> but that doesn't meant that you are free of cognitive biases
  I never said I was "free" of cognitive biases. I said I was free of the *vast majority* of human biases. The difference may not seem important to you, but it is vast. Again, you argue against something that no one here is asserting.
  Of course, you are not responsible for what biases you have or don't have; it is entirely the luck of the draw through genetics and what happens to your brain after conception. Although *most* intelligent people believe that any biases they *think* they don't have are the result of enlightenment - it's not. This is just conceit (and an example of bias). People have the biases they have, intelligent or not. The less biases you have, the more abnormal your cognitive processes are. Having a full set of biases is *normal*.
  I'll waste some more time here explaining:
  I was not too different that you for the first 25 years of my life. But after an unknown neurological event, I was able to (and continue to) perceive my own biases as if I had two completely separate cognitive entities in my head. I am able to observe and correct (if necessary) my own thought process. And before you say something stupid like "you do that too" or whatever - you don't,
16. Re:Better than all the others?!? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-04 21:53 · Score: 0
  
  Why did you post the last one as AC?
  Anyway, top class trolling, I think a star is born.
17. Re:Better than all the others?!? by somersault · 2012-12-04 22:29 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah after reading his first sentence I'm not even going to read the rest of the post. He's either delusional or trolling.
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
WHAT NT DID IN THE 90S SLUSHTOP DOES TODAY !! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:03 · Score: -1

Yeeehaaaaaw !! Linux is making some sort of a showing - in a race run 20 years ago !!
1. Re:WHAT NT DID IN THE 90S SLUSHTOP DOES TODAY !! by lister+king+of+smeg · 2012-12-03 09:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yeeehaaaaaw !! Linux is making some sort of a showing - in a race run 20 years ago !!
  no not quite linux has been able to do this for years already with several different protocals. its more like:
  
  Yeeehaaaaaw !! We wrote our app that for Linux to do something that you could already do on linux for years and pretending that this is wonderful and new so you will buy our proprietary version that will spam you with adds while you work and we promise not to spy on what your doing really!!
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Hold on, let me check something... by cultiv8 · 2012-12-03 09:05 · Score: 4, Informative

Right, for some reason the "Disable ads" checkbox is not hiding all ads.

--
sysadmins and parents of newborns get the same amount of sleep.
1. Re:Hold on, let me check something... by sp332 · 2012-12-03 09:31 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  The URL actually says ?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=PRWeb&utm_campaign=LinuxStreamer-20121128
2. Re:Hold on, let me check something... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:34 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  You seem to be under the mistaken impression that Slashdot is something other than an exciting opportunity to give your product visibility and shape opinions in the tech community.
3. Re:Hold on, let me check something... by Sparticus789 · 2012-12-03 09:37 · Score: 0
  
  Thank you Dice!
  
  --
  sudo make me a sandwich
4. Re:Hold on, let me check something... by tehcyder · 2012-12-04 21:55 · Score: 1
  
  Right, for some reason the "Disable ads" checkbox is not hiding all ads.
  Worse than that, it's inserting them where the stories used to be.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Roblimo by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:06 · Score: -1

Not even trying to hide the Sashvertisements anymore, eh?
Oh and Rob, can we get another video if you and some other obese neckbeard breathing heavily at each other?
alternative by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:06 · Score: 0

Or, you can use ssh.
What happened to NX? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:07 · Score: 1

NX compression on the X protocol made for snappy desktops and responsive thin-client apps. What ever happened to the guys at nomachine?
1. Re:What happened to NX? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:39 · Score: 0
  
  I use it and it works great.
2. Re:What happened to NX? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 11:58 · Score: 0
  
  What happened is they just got a new contract from me just to spite dice's slashvertisement. That's what happend to them.
3. Re:What happened to NX? by hb253 · 2012-12-04 00:04 · Score: 1
  
  Don't know but I still use FreeNX to remotely.accees my home Linux box.
  
  --
  Self awareness - try it!
Why this and not that? by jdharm · 2012-12-03 09:07 · Score: 2

I'm just now getting around to exploring remote admin options. I just recently discovered the joy of X over SSH and decided to be done with VNC. Now I see this...why would I use Splashtop instead of X over SSH?

Not a challenge, a request for info.
1. Re:Why this and not that? by Desler · 2012-12-03 09:10 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Because the Chief Marketing Officer says so. Surely that is an unbiased source.
2. Re:Why this and not that? by ulzeraj · 2012-12-03 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  X over SSH is a real pain to use over internet. Not that I'm recommending Splashtop.
  Have you checked freenx?
3. Re:Why this and not that? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:17 · Score: 0
  
  Because they say its faster? Try it out yourself.
4. Re:Why this and not that? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:23 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Straight X over SSH is very slow over the wide internet. Compressed X streams can be very pleasant, e.g., dxpc or NX. NX is now closed source (and the older OSS versions are very difficult to build and use). X2Go looks like they might take the source and run with it.
5. Re:Why this and not that? by batkiwi · 2012-12-03 09:24 · Score: 2
  
  What happens to your X over SSH session when you lose internet for 30 seconds (say your 3g coverage drops, or your wifi goes wonky)?
6. Re:Why this and not that? by grumpy_old_grandpa · 2012-12-03 09:47 · Score: 1
  
  Why would you remote admin anything at all through a GUI? Can't you just use the shell you already have through SSH?
7. Re:Why this and not that? by phayes · 2012-12-03 09:57 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The session drops & you loose all apps that were running on the X Desktop... Which is a the reason I used Xvnc when I had a need to do this. Xvnc is headless (a virtual X desktop) that you use VNC to connect to. Xvnc's biggest weakness was VNC -- slooowwww but it worked way back when there was no other means of doing this.
  
  --
  Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
8. Re:Why this and not that? by phayes · 2012-12-03 09:59 · Score: 1
  
  Sometimes you need the X windows application & not just a console access. Web Apps have done away with most of these but some X apps are still indispendable...
  
  --
  Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
9. Re:Why this and not that? by realityimpaired · 2012-12-03 10:53 · Score: 1
  
  No Android client for NX... at least, not the last time I checked.
  If you have a Linux, Windows, or Mac-based laptop to connect to hosted apps, though, it works remarkably well. I've used it to do stuff over a 2G cellular connection, and it's as zippy as VLC over a 100mbit LAN.
10. Re:Why this and not that? by realityimpaired · 2012-12-03 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  VNC*. that'll teach me to type while watching TV.
11. Re:Why this and not that? by Gaygirlie · 2012-12-03 12:00 · Score: 1
  
  I'm just now getting around to exploring remote admin options. I just recently discovered the joy of X over SSH and decided to be done with VNC. Now I see this...why would I use Splashtop instead of X over SSH?
  Speed, mostly. Splashtop is a whole buttload faster than X over SSH, plus as it was mentioned, it can carry audio and all with it. Also, with X over SSH you lose all the stuff you had running if you get disconnected, whereas with Splashtop you don't. If you're familiar with Nomachine NX then Splashtop is a lot like that, only seemingly still slightly faster and supports more clients -- NX doesn't have an Android-client, for example.
12. Re:Why this and not that? by caseih · 2012-12-03 14:58 · Score: 1
  
  FreeNX still works for me, with the opennx client. I can yum install both the server and client.
13. Re:Why this and not that? by jdharm · 2012-12-04 07:27 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the replies. Saved me a couple 'learn the hard way' episodes.
  
  1) Disconnect issue - I kind of had it in my head the X over SSH was for doing things I wasn't afraid to loose & was going right to the console for permanent system-wide changes. Good to know I had a reason for doing that.
  
  2) Speed - My servers and I reside in the sticks of Arkansas. There is no such thing as "slow" here. It's all "normal" and "wow!" to us, so this one is kind of a non-issue for me. (To give you an example of the situation: some guy dug up one cable and 4 counties in NE Arkansas lost all connection to the outside world: cell phones, land lines, internet, everything. We were like Syria for about 8 hrs. Not that anyone but us noticed.)
  
  3) DXPC - Nice. I'll make that next on my list of things to try.
14. Re:Why this and not that? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-05 13:10 · Score: 0
  
  Because the Android tablet you're trying to use to access yout Linux box happens not to have implemented X over ssh. Or sshfs. Or an NFS client. And somehow having a Linux kernel inside just isn't enough to make it feel like the Linux box you wish it was. Maybe this is why you're tempted to buy into what sounds suspiciously like spyware.
15. Re:Why this and not that? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-07 02:15 · Score: 0
  
  NX is closed source now but a great alternative is x2go. x2go uses some of the upstream NoMachine code that is open source (nxproxy for instance) but is extremely easy to install on the server and clients (mac, windows & linux). There is also now a Python version of x2go as well.
  I had used NoMachine and also tried FreeNX. Both were much more work to install FreeNX gave me constant problems with audio.
  With x2go, audio, printing, file shares, desktop sharing etc all just work... installing x2go on debian/ubuntu is simply installing the ppa
  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:x2go/stable
  sudo apt-get update
  then... if on the server:
  sudo apt-get install x2goserver x2goserver-xsession
  if on a linux client
  sudo apt-get install x2goclient
  if on window just do the normal download/install
  for mac its a .dmg I believe (I'm not a mac user).
  Also if you use ubuntu as a client you can use the x2go plugin for firefox and use firefox as your remote desktop client.
  The x2go project is extremely active and constantly adding new capabilities (http://www.x2go.org/doku.php/wiki:start).
  the email lists for Dev or Users are also extremely active and a great source of info.
omg by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:12 · Score: 0

he invented the weel.
I'm quite happy ssh for years now thank you. Before that telnet. It's unix you know, you don't need all that graphic stuff.
the remote desktop has uses by gl4ss · 2012-12-03 09:15 · Score: 1

the instant on os pos doesn't.
so it's only proper to focus on it.

--
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Version 2 meh by bhsx · 2012-12-03 09:15 · Score: 4, Interesting

So far I'm not a fan of Version 2. They've detached themselves from Google servers and I know why they did it. Google just released Chrome Remote Desktop, which is a VERY fine replacement for TeamViewer-type implementations. Surely Google will add this to Android's Chrome stack and then it's truly game on for all of these me-too NAT-traversing, competing remote desktop applications. Interesting times ahead in this space.

--
put the what in the where?
1. Re:Version 2 meh by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 10:26 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  It looks like Chrome Remote Desktop requires leaving a desktop running chrome all the time (which is pretty RAM-intensive), and it doesn't support linux either. There are a bazillion solutions for accessing windows remotely, in part because RDP isn't that bad, and Citrix pretty much has the high end locked up.
  If Google really wants to sell chromebooks to business what they need is a chrome-based app for viewing applications hosted on windows/linux/OSX PCs, which is lightweight on the server side so that you can run those applications on a server and not just have a PC dedicated for each chromebook. I don't get their strategy - it is obviously an ideal business laptop from a security/maintainability standpoint, so if they just provided a way to run applications that aren't web-based that would probably drive more adoption.
2. Re:Version 2 meh by bhsx · 2012-12-03 14:13 · Score: 1
  
  You don't need to be running Chrome. It installs a service if you want to set it up for remote access on demand. Same for Mac installs. The first time I used this I installed it to do some remote Mac admining from a Windows box without proper means to do so otherwise, and it worked a charm.
  
  --
  put the what in the where?
3. Re:Version 2 meh by caseih · 2012-12-03 15:02 · Score: 1
  
  Chrome Remote Desktop can be enabled as a service. That's what the second box is for on the main screen when you first fire it up in chrome. you can have a whole bunch of computers that show up there and connect to them any time anywhere. And the Remote Desktop Server part runs as a service (I think it interfaces with Microsoft's RDP server for this). This part doesn't work on Linux though.
  The rest of Chrome Remote Desktop works fine on Linux. In either direction.
4. Re:Version 2 meh by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 22:28 · Score: 1
  
  Can you have 35 users run 35 instances of a single application consuming roughly only 35x the data memory requirements of that application in this manner?
  That was what I was getting at. This seems to be limited to sharing desktops, and I suspect it is limited to one login session per PC at a time, though I'm not certain of that.
  Suppose I'm a small business with 15 employees. Most of what we do is on Google Apps. I have 3 quickbooks users who use the app a fair bit of the day, and an inventory app that is win32 only that gets about 10% usage. That is about 5 concurrent users across two apps. Right now if you want to deploy Chrombooks you'd need to deploy 5 PCs that individuals could remote desktop into in order to run those apps, and those PCs would basically have idle CPUs 95% of the time, and individuals need to worry about logging in/out and which PCs are used for which apps and all that nonsense. What any company would want to do is just have one PC serving up those two apps, and individuals would just launch a bookmark or whatever to get a tap that runs that one app without having to worry about where it is running.
  If Google wants ChromeOS to take off in the business world they really need a simple solution to this problem, and it isn't exactly a problem that hasn't been solved 14 times already.
5. Re:Version 2 meh by caseih · 2012-12-04 04:01 · Score: 1
  
  The one remote user per computer bit is a limitation Microsoft has placed on their non-server OS's. So no matter what software solution you use, you have to buy a Windows Server license and a bunch of CALs.
6. Re:Version 2 meh by tehcyder · 2012-12-04 22:03 · Score: 1
  
  Suppose I'm a small business with 15 employees. Most of what we do is on Google Apps
  You will fail.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
7. Re:Version 2 meh by Rich0 · 2012-12-05 01:01 · Score: 1
  
  Well, presumably Google wouldn't be making the device unless they felt otherwise, but my point was that their failure to handle the one-offs stands in the way of adoption.
  Google has to overcome opinions like yours to make a sale no matter what. However, because they have no solution for running the odd win32 application on ChromeOS they have set the bar considerably higher - a potential customer can't have ANY win32 apps to be a good candidate for ChromeOS.
What You Say by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:17 · Score: 0

Am I the only one who still thinks all your base when I see that?
Oh, a new shtick. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:19 · Score: 1

I went to interview for Turbolinux back in 1999 or so. They were in SF then. It was then an obvious scam, a play for investor money, using Linux moniker for self-promotion. They had no plan, no purpose and no technology. They did have a cool logo and a few high profile guys. Then it all folded like a house of cards that it was, TurboLinux was sold to some chinese firm, who used the name and then dumped it. This wasn't very unusual in those days, of course - so I can't entirely blame them. But - given that history, pardon me for being skeptical.
Also, Cliff is looking older. Time flies. Where did my youth go?
1. Re:Oh, a new shtick. by ShanghaiBill · 2012-12-03 10:02 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  ITurboLinux was sold to some chinese firm, who used the name and then dumped it.
  Actually, it was a Japanese company, Living on the Edge, soon renamed to Livedoor. Soon afterwards, the CEO of Livedoor went to prison for securities fraud.
Register an account...? by cayenne8 · 2012-12-03 09:28 · Score: 1

I just only read the blurb from the link above...but it said something about needing to register an account with Splashtop in order to use this...
Does this mean you somehow have to run your connections through their servers.....basically giving them access to your traffic while running this remote connectivity software?
Sounds like a bad idea to me if this is so....?

--
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
1. Re:Register an account...? by rogabean · 2012-12-03 09:40 · Score: 2
  
  This is only for locating your computers remotely outside of your network.
  
  --
  "why don't you just slip into something more comfortable...like a coma!"
2. Re:Register an account...? by cayenne8 · 2012-12-03 09:55 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  This is only for locating your computers remotely outside of your network.
  Well, yes, I assumed that...that's the only way I'd want to generally be using this...?
  Just watched the video...looks like they charge you by the minute for this too?
  No thanks...more secure and free methods out there is seems...
  
  --
  Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Innocent question by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:33 · Score: 0

doesnt ssh -X -C fit that?
1. Re:Innocent question by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 10:22 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  No. That simply forwards X11, and compresses the data stream. NX does a whole lot more - it implements an X server on the client, and an X client on the server, and re-implements the protocol in a manner that involves fewer round trips.
  Suppose you trigger an X11 call to move a window or something, and it requires two round trips and sends 10 bytes of data. If you simply compress that you might get it down to a few bytes, but that isn't doing much since bandwidth wasn't your problem. You still have to wait for 4x the link latency for the operation to complete.
  All of these solutions try to cut down on the latency problem by running a fake server/client close to the real client/server. Each of these sees a low-latency connection and goes at full speed, and then the software tries to keep the screen as up-to-date as it can within the real-world constraints.
  I can't speak for how this solution compares to the various other ones. I can vouch for the fact that getting it to run will be a PITA since they don't seem to distribute source, and I don't run their one chosen distro.
They sacrificed security for speed by jspraul · 2012-12-03 09:34 · Score: 5, Informative

Splashtop shipped an unencrypted remote access solution for nearly 1.5 years without giant disclaimers.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-4033850.html
I'm supposed to trust them now that it's finally encrypted?
1. Re:They sacrificed security for speed by wiedzmin · 2012-12-03 09:44 · Score: 1
  
  I wish I had mod points left for you. That is exactly what I was thinking, in fact that is exactly what I think every time I see Splashtop brand anywhere.
  
  --
  Bow before me, for I am root.
2. Re:They sacrificed security for speed by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  Interesting. Most of the competing solutions just stream the whole thing over ssh. Makes sense - that takes care of both encryption and authentication and is a solved problem. Then they do their magic on top. Unless you want to use a UDP-based solution you'd be hard-pressed to do better.
3. Re:They sacrificed security for speed by wiedzmin · 2012-12-03 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  Also takes care of many firewall and DLP restrictions, if you do it over one of the web ports, I bet.
  
  --
  Bow before me, for I am root.
4. Re:They sacrificed security for speed by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 22:36 · Score: 1
  
  Very true. You can have all the sockets you want in your ssh connection, and they can go whatever direction you want them to go in, but the outside connection is just one TCP connection that starts at the side you generally have the least control over.
  Again, the only reason I could see for maybe doing something outside of ssh is if you wanted a realtime transport for screen updates. That is one problem I've seen with NX - if I hit page-down twice on a client-rendered browser like chromium I get to watch the thing paint the whole screen twice as all those screen updates go into one massive FIFO buffer. The thing should just throw away obsoleted information. Of course, to do that you'd probably also need to come up with the NX equivalent of keyframes.
DPXC by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 09:36 · Score: 1

http://www.vigor.nu/dxpc/
XRDP by maz2331 · 2012-12-03 09:39 · Score: 1

Why would I use this instead of XRDP (http://www.xrdp.org/) which uses a client that is natively installed on every Windows box out there already?
1. Re:XRDP by Desler · 2012-12-03 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  Because that didn't get a front page Slashvertisement?
2. Re:XRDP by Rich0 · 2012-12-03 10:18 · Score: 1
  
  How does xrdp run over high latency connections? Oh, and is it any good with chrome which is brain-dead and uses client-side-rendering as an unchangeable default?
Cool, because remote computing is awesome by TheSkepticalOptimist · 2012-12-03 10:20 · Score: 2, Insightful

I love using stuff like VNC and having a 15 second lag between my mouse or keyboard click and the screen refresh even on a Gigabit network connection running on an 8 core "thin" client. I mean its been a very long time since I could type faster then the screen can refresh. Its awesome the amount of CPU performance and network speed you need to make your workstation feel like its 1989 all over again.

--
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
1. Re:Cool, because remote computing is awesome by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 11:13 · Score: 0
  
  Not being funny but I VNC onto my home PC from my phone quite happily. Not the quickest because it is 3G and I have two screens but better than 15 seconds.
  If I wanted quick remote desktop tech for Linux I'd use NX anyway.
2. Re:Cool, because remote computing is awesome by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 22:38 · Score: 0
  
  This is anecdata, but vnc with low color depth is very snappy here -- over IPSEC even and going through the crappiest router my lovely Telco could ever offer on a 2 MBit down / 300 kbit up DSL line.
marketing business by ntropia · 2012-12-03 10:26 · Score: 1

I agree with the other several comments pointing at the not-so-well hidden slashvertising.
The person in the interview is the Chief Marketing Office of a company.
He's been a programmer, sure, but now his job has only marginally to do with programming.
1. Re:marketing business by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 11:51 · Score: 0
  
  Slashdot: News for Programmers?
Windows Client or Windows Server by Jonah+Hex · 2012-12-03 11:38 · Score: 1

Not that everything needs to support Windows, but their hyped specs would be interesting to try on the Windows side of both the data center and home. Right now I tend to use RDP (mainly), LogMeIn, or occasionally something like TeamViewer. Cross platform especially to Android is a great selling point for me and many other Windows admins. Looks like their Linux only tho. - HEX

--
Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
1. Re:Windows Client or Windows Server by Jonah+Hex · 2012-12-03 11:41 · Score: 1
  
  Correction: Yeah I was reading wikipedia and the linked page on their home site before posting, just went back and saw the big "Get Streamer for PC, etc" button. I'll have to play with it see if I can do Win7 to Android better than LogMeIn. - HEX
  
  --
  Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
2. Re:Windows Client or Windows Server by Jonah+Hex · 2012-12-03 12:12 · Score: 1
  
  Easy install on both Win7 and Android from the official Play/Market, had some connection issues but it worked fairly well. Not sure if the resolution switch on my Win7 machine can be turned off, but I couldn't see the controls of YouTube videos even though they would play both audio (smooth) and video (smooth to jittery). Dealt with multi monitors somewhat OK but the aforementioned resolution switch screwed up the positioning of the windows I keep open on my second monitor. All in all a decent showing and with free audio and faster video a free alternative to LogMeIn's audio option. I'll keep both for now and play with this some more. - HEX
  
  --
  Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
3. Re:Windows Client or Windows Server by cbhacking · 2012-12-03 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  How does it compare to just using Remote Desktop client apps?
  
  --
  There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
4. Re:Windows Client or Windows Server by Kal+Zekdor · 2012-12-03 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  How does it compare to just using Remote Desktop client apps?
  Speed mostly. You can do things like watching video from a remote player or play graphics intensive games without much lag. The response latency is something like 100ms over 4g, so it's not perfect for games that require twitch reflexes, but I've played Civ 5 and XCOM over Splashtop on my Samsung Galaxy S3 rather smoothly.
5. Re:Windows Client or Windows Server by Jonah+Hex · 2012-12-04 12:44 · Score: 1
  
  I'll echo the speed improvement in video, although the latency of not being quite sure if your click has been registered sometimes leads to issues where you suddenly have several clicks, say on a scroll bar, suddenly register and do much more than you intended. Speaking of scrolling, I couldn't get two finger scroll bar movement to work from my Android (HTC Supersonic aka EVO 4G) and didn't even try the popup keyboard due to disconnections. To be fair, my wifi signal wasn't the best due to a huge storm while I tested. I'll give it a try for personal use before falling back to LogMeIn. - HEX
  
  --
  Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
Desktop Linux is now dead here is why! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 12:34 · Score: 0

I have a board with instant on Linux capability. It is ASUS and their application of this bios feature was only possible if you installed the POS fast boot Linux within an ntfs partition and could only be done with Windows already installed so it was a complete farce and a complete joke!
I thought about how to mess with this to make a fast boot of something other than the precompiled crap linux sudo distro on the ASUS disk that came with the board.
What worked out much better was to just do a standard install of two different drives and hide the linux drive from windows but show the windows drive to linux. Now I just dual boot with each drive having its own boot loader and Knoppix on the second drive boots to a network enabled full desktop 10 - 15 seconds on average faster than Windows 7. I have it set to default boot to sata 1 for Windows so my wife just turns it on and waits out her login ....I just hit the power button and tap f8 as the bios sees the keyboard and presto arrow down to sata 2 and boot Knoppix.
Now it is even harder for a newbee to discover linux first on a CD or thumbdrive let alone go through the hassle of dual booting so desktop linux controlling a home server the way Windows can is just complete pie in the sky for a commercially viable consumer alternative. It does not matter that there are good applications to do exactly that from an Android device or a even a Windows Phone with some hacked up app.
The adoption of Linux is doomed because the manufacturers have all fallen into line and swallowed the "security in the bios for Windows" bullshit from Microshaft.
Just watch out as zero day stuff for rooting from the new user space code in Metro starts to happen, my bet is that the strategy will be to blame opensource for what is about to happen to Windows 8 users that just run as admin all the time like most 7 users already do.
My prediction is that Windows 8 will be even less secure in the user spaces than Windows 7 because users will be lulled to sleep by the UEFI bullshit peddled by Microsoft. By leaving trust as an accept and yes to run option for Windows with closed binaries off the net the die is already cast! Windows RT is a different matter and could in theory be completely secure, however my suspicion is that users will hate not being able to run open source stuff like VLC on RT or full games so it could very easily bomb unless Microsoft starts paying devs to port their stuff to the Windows store, which they might happen if RT does completely start to bomb out.
Is all this off topic no, having great home networking capability for all Linux users that is easy and reliable is fantastic but complete pie in the sky if there is no one actually there to use it!
Don't knock Splashtop, it is very cool by brunes69 · 2012-12-03 12:41 · Score: 1

I first was exposed to Splashtop when it came with my Asus Transformer 101 as a free app. Like a lot of people posting here I was skeptical, not seeing why I need this over XRDP or VNC or any number of other already-existing remote desktop apps.
Then, I shut up and tried the damn thing. And my jaw hit the floor.
Full screen streaming video (aka Netflix), WITH sound, WITHOUT stutter, over a 10mbps connection. Try doing that over VNC.
Splashtop is slick. You need to see it to believe it. They have some neat tech.
1. Re:Don't knock Splashtop, it is very cool by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 12:59 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks Cliff. Good stuff.
Amazing Program by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 12:48 · Score: 0

I can vouch to the awesomeness of Splashtop. My tablet (Asus TF300T) came with it pre-loaded as part of the Asus "MyCloud" apps, and it is absolutely phenomenal. My favorite feature is playing music on my computer at home and having it stream in (almost) real time to my tablet. It automatically mutes the laptop/desktop at home, so as not to disturb anyone. I've found that feature only on paid programs like LogMeIn Pro (not even my beloved Teamviewer can do this, yet!)
Amazing program, and I'm stoked to hear it will work on Linux now too. And just remembering an email and password combination is MUCH more convenient than remembering an ever-changing Teamviewer ID (which is undoubtedly more secure, but a pain in the butt with quarterly wipes I do on my computer)
having used them all here is my take on splashtop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 15:59 · Score: 0

I have run a small consulting company for 10 years now and have always done all my work on my work computer and used laptops as dumb terminals to connect to it when I am out of the office. Here in reverse chronological order is a take on each remote access protocol I have used/am using. Because I am busy I can't really write this up proper, but you might learn something useful.
Splashtop - Hmm, 6 bux for the client on OSX, and the server is free. OK, download install, startup, connect. All fans turn on to airplane take off speed. OMG, I have never seen the CPU activity meter jump filled to the top for more than a second or so. Now it just stays there. Wow, I can't even see both monitors at once. final verdict. Uninstalled. Deleted. Downloaded again and deleted for the satisfaction of it.
Timbuktu: 100 dollars per license (I think this was a special for owning a Moto cable modem)? It had better be good. The interface is old and sucky. Sometimes the fans on the computer are loud even for what amounts to a static screen. The local lockout feature is nifty. Being able to change color depth the 16 shades of grey or 4 shades of grey really helps. Overall, it more or less works.
Apple Remote desktop: Somehow this seems like it was much better pre-lion. I think that is why I felt like I needed to search out timbuktu, because for some reason everything started to suck. Otherwise usable. Great on a local network (I often use my work computer headless from the other room).
Linux headless with XVnc or really - TigerVNC now. KDE mostly works. CPU load isn't high. XServer doesn't crash. With ssh compression mostly usable. Decent.
Nomachine - totally awesome. Really fast. I used my desktop in America from Philippines while streaming my Mp3 collection from America at 8kbps. Except... It crashes far too often. Sometimes once a month, sometimes once in two weeks. And then all the virtual desktops with all the work for all my customers will go bye bye. Abandoned several years ago. The pain was too high.
Xvnc is so 1990s by tota · 2012-12-03 16:17 · Score: 2

Seriously, using Xvnc to forward your ssh session just to deal with disconnections? That is so backwards.
xpra is way better than this, and even NX, despite being old and closed/abandoned is still better than this, and both are seamless.

I haven't tried splashtop, and it being closed source I doubt I will in a hurry, but I reckon xpra is probably on par with it when it comes to performance - we also use x264 encoding where appropriate - and this is the keyword: where appropriate (like video, fast moving animations, etc), in many other cases it's not..

--
TODO: 753) write sig.
1. Re:Xvnc is so 1990s by phayes · 2012-12-03 23:31 · Score: 1
  
  That's pretty much the time-frame...
  When I set that up it was to gain access to HP/OV maps on a Sun SS20 & it was the best solution to the problem available. Now, I'd use a VPN/SSL or an IPSEC client & connect to the server using the appropriate client (Ajax more likely than not but there are still a few X-only apps that I connect to using a VNC client).
  
  --
  Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
why all the fuss? old news by tota · 2012-12-03 16:21 · Score: 2

xpra does this on Linux, Windows, OSX and Android (beta).
It's free and it's open-source.
It also does x264 encoding when needed and is available for all your machines now without any strings attached.

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TODO: 753) write sig.
Yes, heaps of VNC clients. Not many good ones. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-03 17:10 · Score: 0

Yes, there are heaps and heaps of VNC clients out there. But I haven't found a great many that work properly with all of the popular extensions from TightVNC and its ilk (TigerVNC is about the best I've seen).
And I haven't found one that works properly with Apple's Remote Desktop server - it expects an AuthType 35 Diffie-Hellman key exchange after which it switches to an AES-128 encrypted link and does its own thing. Try using any current VNC client beside an OSX Remote Desktop client connecting to an OSX server over an ADSL link and you'll see how much ground VNC has to make up - VNC can take around two minutes to fill a 2560x1440 screen over an 8MB SDSL link.
Remember and pass by RedHat+Rocky · 2012-12-04 03:09 · Score: 1

I remember Turbolinux and thanks for notifying. PASS.

--
Anything is possible given time and money.
Couldn't get Splashtop v2 to work by bmullan · 2012-12-05 04:47 · Score: 1

I installed Splashtop on Ubuntu
then
installed splashtop clients on my Windows 7 and my 2 Android tablets and on my Samsung Skyrocket android phone.

I could not get the connection to work. I'm technical but there is little to no documentation available online other than
a few FAQs. If you need help you have to submit a ticket online and I suppose you wait until someone gets back to you via
email...

I guess I'll wait 6 months and let it bake and then try it again.