What does OS10.5 use to screen share with Windows and Linux ?

Question

i have found screen sharing Mac to Mac is EASY
but lets say i want to see the screen on my Windows XP computer
OR my Linux Ubuntu or CentOS desktop Computers
what do you reccomend and is there anything else i need to know
thanks in advance

Answer 1

First, I trust you have the firewalls open for the needed port(s), e.g. 5900, 5901, etc.
Then, from what I've played with, the Leopard Screen Sharing app only connects to VNC servers that are configured for VNC Authentication (or no authentication) and that are using only Protocol 3.3.
Depending upon the version and implementation of the VNC Server, you might have to pass startup commands like this:
vncserver --SecurityTypes=VncAuth --Protocol3.3
(and of course, have a VncAuth password set, e.g. with vncpasswd.)
I'm not sure how, or if, these settings can be configured in Vino (the 'Remote Desktop' option in Gnome,) but if starting vncserver from an entry in /etc/sysconfig/vncservers, it might be like this:
VNCSERVERS="1:username"
VNCSERVERARGS[1]="-geometry 1420x790 -depth 24 --SecurityTypes=VncAuth --Protocol3.3"
(and again, you'd need a vncpasswd set for the username starting the VNC server.)
Now, only Vino does the automatic Bonjour RFB advertisement, which makes the VNC server show up in Finder (without which, you'll need to manually start Screen Sharing.)
However, you can create the Bonjour advertisement in Linux by creating a file called /etc/avahi/service/rfb.service
and filling it with the following text:
<?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
<!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
<service-group>
<name replace-wildcards="yes">%h VNC Server</name>
<service>
<type>rfb.tcp</type>
<port>5901</port>
</service>
</service-group>
and then, doing a:
sudo /etc/init.d/avahi-daemon restart
In the Windows VNC Server (at least the one by RealVNC), there is an advanced button (or a Legacy tab) where you can find the option to set "Protocol 3.3" to true. And, on the security tab, make sure you have it set to "VNC Password Authentication" (configured with a password set) and NOT to "NT Logon Authentication". Unfortunately, I don't know how to set a Windows machine to make the necessary RFB service Bonjour advertisement to get it to show up in Finder. However, if you got a Bonjour/Rendezvous Proxy (e.g. http://ileech.sourceforge.net/index.php?content=RendezvousProxy-Download , for the Mac, I like the Java version, the native one is PPC.) and ran it on your Mac (or the Windows machine), you could simulate the adverstisment -- just create an proxy entry for a rfb.tcp service, pointing to port 5900 on the IP address of your Windows box.
Finally, even once you connect to a 3rd party VNC server with the Screen Sharing app, every so often you'll get a 'no encryption' warning -- of course, because Apple doesn't talk RealVNC's encryption and vice-versa so it connects without encryption.
Message was edited by: J. Everett