[X2Go-User] X2Go on Android

[Mike Gabriel]

Hi Markus, hi Lucian, et al.

first.. @Markus: didn't you want to work on the wiki's "Get started"  
page? It is dangling there as an empty page now and waiting for you to  
write it.

On Mo 23 Sep 2013 14:37:33 CEST Nigra Truo wrote:

>> I seriously doubt that it would work without any changes. X2go depends on a
>> lot of X specific black magic, amongst others are nxproxy, which is a way
>> to compress the X protocol. Android does not run X (as far as I know), so
>>
>
> Android has had X for some time now:
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.darkside.XServer&hl=en
>
> nxproxy is not yet there as far as I know.

Nope.

> Yes, it might be a lot of work, but a worthy one: lots and lots of devices
> come with Android.

Once we have nxproxy working on Android, then the rest rather needs  
diligence than magic. If an X-Server and nxproxy is in place then the  
rest of the X2Go client app writing (from scratch I suggest) is easy.

> Isn't there a functionality that lets you run an quasi app on a webserver
> that then allows you to use a browser to emulate an X2goclient?
> I have heard that you did such functionality and that it is finished. That
> would be the solution: just run a apache webserver and then on Android
> connect to the webserver with a browser and use X2goclient like this.

The x2goplugin you are referring to. It needs nxproxy (shipped with  
the plugin) and a local X-Server (on Windows: also shipped with the  
plugin's XPI). Before anyone asks: there is no recent x2goplugin  
version for Windows at the moment.

>> you would run into problems there already. Next up would be code to control
>> when to show an on-screen keyboard, and translating touches on the screen
>>
>
> A hardware keyboard would be a must (bluetooth), as otherwise you will lose
> all screen real estate to the keyboard. But talking about Android also
> means Tablets and on a 10 inch Tablet, X2go would be a totally wonderful
> thing to use.

A further option is: use a tablet ready desktop shell in the X2Go  
session (like plasma active). They normally come with a screen  
keyboard. So, you just have to make sure that the Android screen  
keyboard does not interfere with whatever software keyboard you use in  
the X2Go Session.

> Considering how many devices exist that run Android, the "market" would be
> huge. You may even be able to charge for the app (like 1 or 2 dollars) as
> the X2goserver is already free and totally amazing to use. Often, Android
> users are convenience users, lazier than PC or Laptop users and will
> preferably shell out some cash before looking around for a free alternative
> that needs more work.
> And I would definitely buy it for 1 or 2 dollars, it would be well worth it.

Charging is fine, a non-free license will not be supported by me  
(personal statement). I vote give my time to that project if the  
license is other than GPL or AGPL.

> (providing a free trial version that is limited to 5 minutes for a session
> so people can try it out would work great)

urgghhh... nononono...

>> to mouse input. To sum it up, I think it would require a lot of work to get
>> x2go to an even remotely usable state on Android.
>>
>
> You can also connect a mouse to an Android tablet/smartphone by the way. My
> Gingerbread (2.3) Ice cream Sandwich (4.0) and Jelly Bean (4.2) Android all
> supported plugging in a mouse and keyboard via USB connector, it just
> treats it as HID, and simulates it, so you can use the cursor keys to more
> from app icon to app icon or ESC to go back, as well as getting a mouse
> pointer to click on stuff. I was amazed how dynamic this works.

Yeah.

> Anyway, for the short term, the webserver solution should work easier.

This does not exist for Android!!! It only works (in theory) for those  
platforms that X2Go Client is available for.

Mike



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