[arch-general] Arch Linux PC as a Remote Desktop Node

[Chris Warrick]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2018 at 19:07, Foxtrot Mike via arch-general
<arch-general at archlinux.org> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Currently we have around 10 employees who develop software using Visual
> Studio. The idea is to install the development tools on the Windows
> Server system, and to have all the developers connect to the server over
> RDP using low-end low-power computers. The server is pretty beefy
> though. The low end client PCs will save up-front cost as well as power
> bills. The network backend will not have any issue with the increased
> RDP traffic.

If I were one of the employees, I wouldn’t be very happy about the
idea. RDP will never be as reliable and snappy as working on a
physical machine, even if the server was more powerful. Developers
aren’t the best employees to make savings on. Do note that the savings
will be limited due to eg. Windows Server licensing. Also, have you
tested it and made sure that all the software is compatible with
concurrent use via RDP?

But if you have to, here’s an idea:

One Linux user account, auto-login into X. That user account runs
Openbox (as something more user-friendly), which auto-starts a RDP
client.
After the user ends their Windows session, a dialog box (eg. from
Zenity) appears, asking to restart the Windows session or shut down
the computer, perhaps with a timeout.

-- 
Chris Warrick <https://chriswarrick.com/>
PGP: 5EAAEA16