[GRASS-user] System architecture for running GRASS

[Glynn Clements]

Hamish wrote:

> > I frequently connect to our Linux machines from my windows laptop and
> > run GRASS over an ssh tunnel. Works great. On a fast connection there
> > is little difference between running it native or tunneling the
> > display. This is a perfect use of Cygwin on windows.
> 
> You can tunnel X windows from a Linux machine into a Cygwin
> environment???? and it is usable???

Yes; that's how I work at present. Most of my work is done in an
XEmacs instance running on the Linux box with its windows open on the
Windows box. Except that I don't tunnel X over SSH; I just allow
direct incoming connections from the Linux box.

The Linux box is connected to the second monitor input, but its
keyboard and mouse stay tucked in the corner unless I actually need to
use them (which is rare; the last time was when I changed the drive
connections around to add a DVD-writer and needed to use the BIOS
setup).

Actually, Windows probably makes a better X terminal than Linux does. 
Cygwin's XWinGL supports accelerated indirect OpenGL rendering,
whereas the XFree86/X.org servers only accelerate direct rendering
(and Xgl is still at an "alpha" stage). Also, the graphics card
vendors tend to treat Windows drivers as a higher priority than Linux
drivers.

[While there are (or at least used to be) commercial X servers for
Linux which support accelerated indirect rendering, they tend to be
for obscure "professional" 3D cards (e.g. Evans & Sutherland) which
have become obsolete since high-performance 3D cards became a consumer
item.]

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>