[rescue] SunOS 4.1.3 X-Windows client to modern Linux System, How?

[Peter Corlett]

On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 10:26:24AM -0400, john ferguson wrote:
[...]
> So the question is, assuming I'm running OpenLook on the SPARCstation,
> does anyone have any idea how I might do what was so easy 30 years ago?

Although plain X is a network windowing system, the Linux-on-the-desktop
crowd have managed to extend-and-embrace the protocol such that complex
Linux GUI applications will only run properly on the same machine as the X
server. Thanks, Lennart et al.

A Linux box running an X server should have no problems displaying
traditional applications running remotely on your SPARCstation. ssh
tunneling is preferred as it's secure and convenient, but "xhost +" will do
if ssh is undesirable/impossible and security is not an issue.

Your SPARCstation's X server will be able to display decades-old
applications such as xterm running remotely on the Linux box. Forget
anything fancy like a modern web browser though as it'll expect all of that
other Linux desktop cruft and server extensions to be present. You might be
able to convice it to work with some effort.

I suggest you either adopt the Linux box as a desktop and use the
SPARCstation remotely, or if you really do want to use the SPARCstation as
your desktop, connect to the Linux box over VNC rather than X. VNC is far
less elegant than X, but it sidesteps a lot of interoperability problems
between wildly-different windowing systems. If VNC is too clunky for your
needs, Xpra might suit.