[X2Go-User] X2 Go Client Android Project?

Stefan Baur X2Go-ML-1 at baur-itcs.de
Mon Mar 20 12:11:34 CET 2017


Am 09.03.2017 um 12:01 schrieb Bernard Free:
> Hello,
> I have a question, is there a development planned for an X2go Android
> client?
> 
> thank you for your attention

No, for several reasons.
1) Android's on-screen keyboard doesn't work with X for Android or
   VNCclient for Android.
   Also, an on-screen keyboard takes up valuable screen real estate on
   the already smaller-than-usual Android screen.
2) Regular X applications aren't touch-aware: Buttons are too small to
   properly hit them with a finger

This means that you would have to use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard for
your session - not exactly what you'd want to lug around along with your
smartphone.

Also, according to one of our developers, there's the following two
extra reasons speaking against it:

3) Due to certain workarounds which would be required on Android, there
   wouldn't really be a speed advantage compared to VNC.

4) There is at least one library that we couldn't ship - I'm not sure
   if it was due to licensing issues (we're all GPL, which is also the
   reason why there's no iOS version of X2GoClient - the Apple App
   Store is incompatible with the GPL - the only way around it is a
   dual license model, which only works if you hold copyright over the
   entire code you upload - and we don't), or because it would require
   rooting the device.

That said, there is a way to run X2GoClient on Android, using a Debian
Changeroot on a device that has a real hardware keyboard attached.
You can watch a short demo video here, but it will also explain why you
don't want to use this in production:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h_kiY78Ks4>

If you're looking for a more or less portable device that you can
already run X2GoClient on, check out the Raspberry Pi 3 with the 7"
touchscreen interface offered by the RPi foundation, and a small
hardware keyboard, as shown in the bottom left of this picture:
<http://wiki.x2go.org/lib/exe/detail.php/events:pdrm0031.jpg?id=events%3Astart>
You could run such a contraption off of a USB power bank for a few
hours. The advantages of that approach:
- Everything works out of the box, binary packages available in Repo
- Native X2Go speed
- At least semi-portable
- HDMI port remains unused by the 7" screen, so you can even hook it up
  to a large flatscreen to demo stuff.

Kind Regards,
Stefan Baur

-- 
BAUR-ITCS UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
Geschäftsführer: Stefan Baur
Eichenäckerweg 10, 89081 Ulm | Registergericht Ulm, HRB 724364
Fon/Fax 0731 40 34 66-36/-35 | USt-IdNr.: DE268653243

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