[NTLUG:Discuss] XP/Agile programming over 'net

[kbrannen@gte.net]

Robert Citek wrote:
> 
> On Thursday, January 22, 2004, at 08:43  PM, kbrannen at gte.net wrote:
 >>
>> An IM client might speed it up a bit.  But if you both (or more) have 
>> a semi-high speed 'net connection, the ultimate is having one of you 
>> running vncserver, then everyone using vncviewer.  That allows 
>> everyone to see the same virtual desktop.  Your distro may or may not 
>> come with those programs.  My Suse ones (8.2, 9.0, & SLES-8) do.
> 
> 
> At an abstract level, I imagine that one would need two components for 
> an interactive XP environment:
>  - a shared working environment (e.g. vnc, screen, GnomeMeeting, etc.)
>  - a communications method (e.g. phone, VoIP, IM, IRC, ntalk, etc.)

We use phones for this, but then we're in a business environment.  For an 
OSS/voluntary type project, that may be cost prohibtive if you're long 
distance (especially if you're international!), so yeh, IM/VOIP/? may be a 
better answer for you.

> 
> Also, at any given time, only one person is "driving" the shared 
> environment while the rest watch.  However, the one who is driving 
> should be able to hand over control to one of the other viewers at any 
> time.  Furthermore, anyone should be able to join or leave at will.

The fun part of the vncserver/vncviewer solution is that you can actually 
fight over control of the mouse and keyboard. :-)  So who's driving is purely 
a cooperative thing; therefore, handing control over to someone is just a 
matter of telling them, OK, you drive for awhile (or someone asking to drive).

> 
> I haven't played with VNC in a while, but how does this sound as a 
> variation on that theme:  Instead of opening up a VNC on your own 
> machine, SSH into a remote linux box using your own or some "generic" 
> account and start a VNC server.  Then you and several others can connect 
> to the linux box via a vncviewer in one window and open a communications 
> channel in another.  Since the vncserver would be running on a remote 
> machine and not tying up your workstation machine, you and others could 
> join and leave at will.  However, how could one ensure that only one 
> person is "driving" at one time?  Or is that really necessary?

Whatever machine you use is up to you and what hardware you have available to 
you, and which environment is setup to allow this to happen. (firewalls do 
matter :-)

> 
> So, vnc could be one solution.  Any other ideas?
> 
> Regards,
> - Robert

Kevin