Xubuntu via VNC

I just got around to doing a clean Xubuntu install on cumine, a 550 MHz Pentium III box that just inherited 512 Mbytes of RAM from my test rig, which failed noisily.

Xubuntu is a Linux distribution that comes with a tweaked Xfce desktop. It comes from the nice people at the Ubuntu project and is comparable to Ubuntu, which comes with the GNOME desktop and Kubuntu, which comes with KDE. I have another box with Ubuntu Server, which comes by default without a GUI desktop environment. Clearly these Ubuntu people value choice!

Xubuntu is normally used from the console: the keyboard, mouse and display that are attached to the computer. For various reasons I want to be able to use it from elsewhere: from the iBook in the comfy chair, from a Windows machine at work or wherever.

I installed the vnc4server package, which creates a "fake" X server in memory and makes it viewable from any VNC viewer. I use vncviewer on BSD and Linux, 'Chicken of the VNC' on MacOS X and RealVNC on MS Windows machines.

To make Xubuntu's Xfce desktop available via VNC though, I had to edit my .vnc/xstartup file to include...

xfdesktop&
xfwm4&
xfce4-panel

...and comment out a few other lines, including the one that would have otherwise launched twm. vnc4server's X server has some limitations, but it does most of what I need for now.

My first php OOP attempt...

I have to use php at work and it seems to lack an ordinary compound structure like Pascal and C have, so I thought perhaps I'd use an object instead. Here's my first crack at some OOP in php, which yields the following...

OOP test

Constructing an instance of asbtest
My Donkey is Unwell

In method asbtest::vet
My Donkey is Healthy

Job done!

I wonder if objects get automatically destroyed when the php interpreter falls off the end of the source. Thanks to nils_ and rindolf from Freenode's #webdezvous channel and AcidReign from ##php for important help with this.

A sound idea?

One of the projects that's been on "low simmer" for several years is a few Web terminals for an educational site. Since the applications will be running on a central computer, I may just connect a small amplifier and some bookshelf speakers to that (rather than buying cheap speakers and streaming audio to each terminal). The plan is for four terminals sitting next to each other. If I put one speaker at either end and adjust each terminal's software mixer balance, I should be able to make each terminal's sound "appear" where the terminal is.

Ubuntu (VNC) Server

This isn't likely to surprise anyone, but I'll post it here to remind myself of the procedure. This is how I make an Ubuntu Server box that several people can use at once, either from 'VNC viewer' software running on a computer or from a VNC–capable graphical terminal:

1. Install Ubuntu Server on a suitable computer
2. Install binary packages for VNC, Xfce and any other software that the users will need (SeaMonkey, OpenOffice.org etc.).
3. Create user accounts and arrange for the VNC server instances to start automatically
4. Edit the .vnc/xstartup scripts to use Xfce
5. Fix the Xfce "panel" menu bar
6. Test, rinse and repeat.