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I can remote desktop using a GUI (graphical user interface) from my Linux machine to a Windows machine, but not from a Windows machine to a Linux one. Anyone know what I need to do?

I have installed PuTTY on Windows which brings up a terminal like window, but I cannot get it to bring up the KDE GUI. PuTTY may not support using a GUI?

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    You can also use PenguiNet it's excellent software + it's too cheap 🙂 I know it does not support GUI though you should learn how to run your commands 🙂 — MISC A++
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    Can you please inform me which Linux distribution you are using and how you RDP to the Windows machine? I am an absolute beginner and would like to accomplish precisely that. Thank you in advance! — Dragonchaser
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    I feel your best bet on Linux servers is to learn how to do things at the command line. Even with a GUI interface there are going to be certain tasks that will require you to open a command line. Linux behaves in the exact opposite manner as Windows in this respect - the command line actually gives you more power and options than the GUI, whereas the Windows command line is severely limited and the GUI is required for most tasks. — madirish
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FreeNX is what you're looking for. It is to Linux what Remote Desktop is to Windows. FreeNX is, as the name indicates, is free. I've never used RealVNC, but it also appears to be free and is available for Linux. You may want to try TightVNC, as it's free.

VNC and FreeNX don't do quite the same thing, so you should pick the one that does what you're looking for.

VNC will allow you to access the same desktop that you would be using if you were sitting at the computer. If you were to open Mozilla, for example, while sitting at your home computer and then go to a different computer and VNC into your home computer, you would be able to see and use that instance of Mozilla that you had opened.

FreeNX, on the other hand, gives you a virtual desktop on your home computer when you are at a remote machine. You wouldn't see that instance of Mozilla that you had opened at home. Anything you do while logged in via FreeNX is contained in that session.

In my experience, FreeNX is much more responsive than VNC. It feels more like you're sitting at your home computer.

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    There's any number of ways to accomplish this though I would consider RealVNC as an option. — Daemonguy
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    Both realVNC and FreeNX look like they can do what I want to do. This is just for learning and experimenting so I'm not willing to pay for them just yet. But maybe I'll give FreeNX's trial a shot. — 5N4K3
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    I should point out that Mandriva ships with tightVNC by default, rather than RealVNC. RealVNC is great if you want to put the server on a Windows platform, but it's not free on a Linux platform. I've had pretty good luck with tightVNC but it can be pretty laggy, so it's not good for extended sessions. I got much better responsiveness out of FreeNX, but it can be a real pain to set up and get working properly. — madirish
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Im using mandrake 10.1 and that came with a vnc client and server. It works great with no problems.

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You could also always use something like Cygwin/X if you just want to run individual applications from your Linux machine on your Windows desktop.

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I'm linux both ways, but on the server end the current app is vnc4server which should be available across all distros, and installs in the usual way.
My remote admin friend on my site uses realVNC which he got from somewhere or other cough .. We run xfce as the desktop for lightness and speed.

If you are running kde at the remote location then after logging on the normal way to start a desktop session is with "startkde" or "startgdm" or in our case "startxfce4" Obviously some applications will not work as well as others, but for our usage (remote admin of a webserver) we have experienced no problems.

Headaches? You need to write a script/add to rcS.d to run the server at startup/reboot otherwise you have no access to your desktops. I always forget that..

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Anyone heard of Logmein? Basically it lets you log into any client computer with nothing needing to be installed except a firefox plugin.

Anyone know if anything like this exist for connecting from Windows to Linux?

Basically I work on a Windows machine, I want to access my computer at home but I don't think my company wants me installing VNC or other remote desktop apps on their computers.

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    Looks like what you need. Try the free version and see how it goes. Whether that will work with a Linux home machine is a mystery, the site has very little information. You will probably have to either add your work IP to your trusted hosts or destroy your home PC security to get in though. *nix doesn't on the whole like remote login unless it's by ssh. — Janrocks
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