Not long ago, I reviewed SUSE Linux 10 and found that they had included the latest version of FreeNX (a free version of NoMachine'sNX Server) on the installation media. I'd never really tried FreeNX at that point but had heard some good things about it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, once it was installed and working I have to say I was immediately impressed by how simple it was to setup and how well (read: fast) it performed over a WAN connection. I was literally able to get my desktop at home from anywhere else in the world and get near-local speed. Normally, working on a remote system is alright until you need to type in any shape or form. There was almost no delay from the time I'd press a key to the time it would show up on the screen. This is what sold me on FreeNX and prompted me to offer to write a HOWTO on the topic. I was overwhelmed with email from our readers asking that I write it... so here we are!
Installing FreeNX from YaST
First things first. We've got to get the basic packages installed before we can get much further, so you'll need to visit YaST and grab them from there.
1. Open the K Menu and click System > Control Center (YaST) (show me) 2. The Run as root dialog will appear. Enter the root password and click the OK button (show me) 3. After the YaST window appears, click the Software Management button on the right side of the window (show me) 4. After the Software Manager loads, change the Filter spinner at the top to Search 5. Type freenx in the Search box and press the ENTER key. This will search the software database for the FreeNX software 6. Place a check in the box next to the FreeNX entry in the right pane and click the Accept button (show me) 7. The Package Changes window will appear, letting you know that the expect package will need to be installed to satisfy FreeNX requirements. Click the Continue button. The installer will then complete the installation for you (show me) 8. Once it's completed, the installer will prompt you with a dialog announcing it's done. Click Finish. This completes the initial FreeNX install (show me)
