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What's a good RDP Server on Linux? | Hacker News

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Original source (news.ycombinator.com)
Tags: linux remote-desktop xpra rdp xrdp vnc news.ycombinator.com
Clipped on: 2024-04-26

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What's a good RDP Server on Linux?


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As far as I'm aware there are no good RDP servers on Linux.

By good I mean one that would give an experience at least somewhat close to RDP on Windows. All the ones I've tried have been orders of magnitude away.

A good one should also allow for a key RDP feature which is to seamlessly transition between physical and remote desktop sessions. Meaning, I log in to my desktop at home, I leave and log in via RDP and get the same desktop session, which I can again resume when I get back home.

This is either not possible or doesn't work well last time I tested xrdp and friends.

Of course, if things has changed in the last year or so, I'd be delighted to hear about it. A good RDP server for Linux is what's keeping me from transitioning away from Windows on my main machine.


> Meaning, I log in to my desktop at home, I leave and log in via RDP and get the same desktop session, which I can again resume when I get back home. This is either not possible or doesn't work well last time I tested xrdp and friends.

This works with x2go.


> This works with x2go.

Ah, I don't think I even got that far with x2go. Dismissed it due to performance.

But good to know!


Strange because x2go performs better than anything else. Though you have to set the "Connection" settings correctly for your use. Setting for too low a bandwidth is just as bad as too high. "WAN" with "256-jpeg" works pretty well for me.


> Strange because x2go performs better than anything else

If you mean better than anything else available on Linux, you're probably right.

The problem is that it's still an order or magnitude behind Windows-to-Windows RDP, which is my benchmark.

But thanks for reminding me, I'll give it another whirl.


A volunteer has programmed and glued all the pieces together for Gnome's session sharing using RDP: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-remote-desktop/-/issues...


NoMachine has been the nicest option I've found. I've previously tried x2go and xrdp, and whilst they worked, I kept looking for something better until I found NoMachine.


Funny. NoMachine is exactly what I use right now. Decent functionality. Reputable company. Etc.

But, RDP's bandwidth efficiency on Windows is unbeatable AFAIK. I wish the Linux and macOS world had something like that.


The best alternative I've found for macOS is Jump Desktop's Fluid protocol.


How does Jump Desktop Connect[0] compare? I hear really good things about it on macOS

[0] https://jumpdesktop.com/connect


Jump Desktop’s Fluid protocol is shockingly good- by far the best remote desktop solution I’ve ever found for macOS.


Can it be run independently OR does it depend on Jump Desktop's servers as a connection mediator?


You're probably aware of this, but once the connection has been mediated via the cloud, data will usually flow directly between client and server. But yes, to avoid this initial connection mediation, you'll need the "Cloudless Fluid Connections" from the Enterprise team plan[0]. I use the basic $35 single user macOS program which requires cloud mediation.

I don't like the forced cloud mediation either, but the protocol is just so much better, almost comically better, than NoMachine, RDP-over-macOS, VNC, X11-forwarding, Screen Sharing.app, etc.

[0] https://app.jumpdesktop.com/pricing


Thanks for this info.

I wish they did offer Cloudless in their regular version.


Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora ship with packages for it: xrdp (the session manager) and xorgxrdp (the actual X server that speaks the RDP protocol). I’ve been using them for almost a decade, and even got remote audio working on Ubuntu:

https://github.com/rcarmo/ubuntu-xrdp


Only one I know of is xrdp. It usually works.





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