Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

i've finally taken the decision to weed myself off the MS op system on my laptop and to that effect have dual booted it with Ubuntu 11.04.

My question is what can I do easier now with my N900 that I couldn't through W7 and what should I be experimenting with?

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

Hmmm only this
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=77695

Yup all you can do in ubuntu are doable on win7 just need to do some research

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

It's extremely easy to log into your N900's "terminal" via ssh. Could be done with Putty in Windows but on Linux it's just part of the system. I prefer "guake" as terminal on Ubuntu, it opens a window almost instantly on keypress.

Many of the shell scripts you might use on Ubuntu can be reused on Maemo. I love how I just need to write stuff once and can use it on different platforms with minor to no modifications at all.

If you install Python on your N900 many scripts/apps can be used there as well. It's quite easy to learn (thus quite popular). Ubuntu uses it extensively, and the N900 is great for learning the language (and others) on-the-go.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

Like said already ssh works like a charm and makes transferring files between N900 and PC very easy using Nautilus (file manager). On nautilus just go to File -> Connect to server.
What I have enjoyed the most is that when you learn something using N900 you also learn about using Ubuntu and vice versa.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

You can stream the music/videos in your ubuntu machine to phone via uPNP. Rhythmbox has a uPNP Plugin..

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

You can run ssh with X forwarding and launch any application you have installed on your laptop on the N900 with gui. Sadly the X server on the N900 is crippled and you can't do the opposite.

i think the command is ssh -X your-ip

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

Does this mean I can then control that program on the laptop using the N900? e.g I would effectively have a remote control for Banshee?

Thanks all for your suggestions, really interested in using the N900's terminal from my laptop. I will give this a go tonight.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

I have not tried the X forwarding stuff, but what you are asking can be done by vnc...
In Ubuntu System--Preference---Remote Desktop---Check "Allow other users to view your desktop" & "Allow other users to control your desktop".
In N900, give the ip in Presence VNC.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

And for VLC you have http://www.my-maemo.com/software/app...to=1754&faq=34
For some reasons, I could not get it to work. You can check in the forums here.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

VLC-remote is awesome. There appeared a bug in qt on recent cssu update, which will be fixed. I assume the application works on Windows as well so this is not relevant for OP's question.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

X forwarding is a much more "native" implementation of controlling a desktop remotely, essentially it is built in linux (even when you control your own pc you run a client and a server on the same machine) so the result is better.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

I've managed to connect over SSH using nautilus but I can't get this to work.

If I type

SSH -X 192.xxx.x.x

it asks me for a password, I'm assuming this is the root password I've set on my N900, but if I put this in I get access denied. It also doesn't accept my Ubuntu login password.


Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

edit ok.....I'm

ok typing ssh -X root@192.xxx.x.x then entering my root password gets me in!


Now what, how do I remote control my laptop.

Re: Linux and my N900 - What can I do now?
 

You can now start apps, they will be executed on your laptop, but all the rendering info will be sent to your N900, instead of to the laptop screen. Some apps are gltichy though, such as firefox, that somehow wants a local display, or apps like Gimp, which are not really designed to be run on 800x480.

The webcam will be piped through though, so you can start "cheese" for your own little private surveillance session :)

You might also want to experiment with option "C" for compression, which might improve update rate, like so:
ssh -XC root@remoteip

Of course all console commands work as usual. You could type
espeak "Nice day we are having"
to freak out whoever happens to sit at your laptop at the time. :)