# linux-nx-client deprecated?



## tanis (Jun 15, 2017)

Hi,

Is there any reason (e.g. license issue) why the linux-nx-client had been removed from FreshPorts: net/linux-nx-client ?

I ran into this issue, because I have been setup my FreeBSD 11 Test Workstation for a couple of days now and today I did the opennx client. It took me a few minutes to realize that nxssh is part of linux-nx-client and that it had been removed from the ports. Maybe I missed something here but searching this forum and using google I got the impression that there is no alternative to the linux-nx-client and the opennx client is still under maintenance, please correct me if I'm wrong?!

However I downloaded the src rpm ( opennx-0.16-724.el6.centos.1.src.rpm ) and fixed a few source lines regarding nxcomp and nxssh and so far everything is running without any errors or segmentation faults. So if there is any interest in this I can provide those little patches to give something back. 

Best regards,

PS: I'm pretty sure a few weeks ago I ran into a page which provided me some information about current supported hardware, but I'm not able to find it anymore. Just telling because there are a lot of folks asking around for up to date hardware and FreeBSD 11.

My current setup: FreeBSD bsd 11.0-RELEASE-p9
Gigabyte Brix
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100U
Intel Wireless 3165 working like a charm
right now only suspend to ram is not working


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## SirDice (Jun 16, 2017)

```
DEPRECATED: No more public distfiles
```
Linux packages are typically not sources but pre-compiled RPMs. And apparently those disappeared.

Looking at the website I see they now have a new free version: https://www.nomachine.com/download/download&id=12

I'm guessing it got removed because 3.x was deprecated and the newer versions weren't free to use. This might have have changed. If you can fix the port using the current version I'm sure others will find it useful.


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## tanis (Jun 16, 2017)

I downloaded the tar.gz package, but it seems to me NoMachine is "only" offering binaries and no sources anymore. I assume this is not inline with ports collection which are based on sources.


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## scottro (Jun 16, 2017)

If possible, (if the nx server is Linux or Windows), it might be worth giving x2goserver a try.  I use it on a Linux desktop and access it from a FreeBSD workstation.  I have a page with a few details at http://srobb.net/nxreplace.html that gives the real basics.

(I started using it because at some point, they changed the nxclient and I didn't like the new version.)

The x2goserver doesn't, as far as I know, run on FreeBSD though, so if the server is FreeBSD, then apologies for an irrelevant interruption.


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## SirDice (Jun 16, 2017)

tanis said:


> I downloaded the tar.gz package, but it seems to me NoMachine is "only" offering binaries and no sources anymore. I assume this is not inline with ports collection which are based on sources.


For native FreeBSD applications, yes. But the Linux application ports are pretty much all binaries. If you can build from source there would be no real need to use the Linux emulation layer because you use the source to build a FreeBSD native application.


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## tanis (Jun 16, 2017)

scottro
Thanks for sharing and your effort collecting all those information. xpra is no option at all, x2go (from reading your page) seems a bit unstable to me compared to FreeNX even though its out of maintenance. However, it always depends on what you try to aim, so no offending here.

The nx server is actually a linux server and still running FreeNX because of certain 3rd party software requirements. Clients are on Windows and Linux. Everything is reliable and stable.

Because of several constraints on the Linux site I'm experimenting with FreeBSD as an alternative once in a while for a couple of years now on the client side. FreeBSD 11 looks really promising even more after I got the nxssh v3.5.0_2 running without linux emulation. I'm aware there is now centos 6 environment and even centos 7 available, but from my perspective it might be more reliable (long term) to get a FreeBSD only workstation running.

SirDice
I'm looking for an reliable FreeBSD only approach, but this is a personal choice, having the source allows me to fix things, if I got only the binaries I always have to rely on the linux environment and this adds, from my point of view, a lot more complexity to system then necessary.

However, I really appreciate your help!


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## SirDice (Jun 16, 2017)

If you want to create a port to build a native FreeBSD binary the port would be named nx-client. For ports a name like linux-* implies it's a binary that uses the Linux application layer.


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## tanis (Jun 18, 2017)

SirDice 
I'm not pretty sure about this port creation thing, because I'm not a license expert. I checked for the freenx port in the collection just to find out it had been removed as well. From your last post I'm able to understand that because of the missing linux prefix the source code had been removed. So is there some archive some where or is it common practice to create a source backup for programs which are used? Or do I have to become a port maintainer for a particular port to keep it alive? What is the best freebsd practice in this case? Right now I'm under the impression, if the importance of a port is not a public shared consent it gets dropped, so if I like to keep the port alive I have to become the port maintainer right?


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## tanis (Jun 18, 2017)

After a little more digging into this .... I found out that x2go seems to be the unofficial/official replacement to NX on the linux site and goes in favorite for the Debian environment. It also seems to be that there is no connection to FreeBSD at all, but on the other hand the project is widely adapted by several educational institutes, NASA and a few big corporate enterprises (e.g. Cisco).

scottro
Thanks again for your advise, I guess I will have a closer look on the x2go solution.


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## scottro (Jun 19, 2017)

For my very simple needs, it works well.  Keyboard shortcuts, such as moving around a terminal with keystrokes doesn't work, but generally, I go into it to either open a browser, so it's more of an annoyance than anything else.


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## tanis (Jun 19, 2017)

scottro
So just to get this straight ... you are not as satisfied with x2go as you had been with FreeNX?


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## scottro (Jun 19, 2017)

Sorry, I was unclear.  No, I am quite satisfied with it.  I don't remember if FreeNX worked with my keyboard shortcuts, since I haven't used it in years now.  If it did, then that's something that I can't get working in x2go.  For me, however, that is little more than a minor nuisance, or I would have remembered that it worked then and doesn't now.

I used FreeNX the same way I use x2go.  Occasional connections to a home machine to primarily use the web browser.


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## tanis (Jun 19, 2017)

scottro 
Ok, thanks for clarification.


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## scottro (Jun 19, 2017)

My pleasure, sorry for any confusion.


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## ynoga (Mar 21, 2018)

Hey, sorry to dig up an old thread.
Just to let know that latests nomachine (linux) snapshot can also be used as a nx-client on FreeBSD 11.1 (just following the "Configuring Linux® Binary Compatibility" section of the FreeBSD Handbook)


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## tanis (Nov 12, 2019)

Actually, glade you did.

For Whom It May Concern  

NoMachine client ( nomachine_6.8.1_1_x86_64.rpm ) works out of the box it seems. 

I just followed the handbook on this one:


```
# cd /compat/linux
# rpm2cpio < ~tanis/Downloads/nomachine_6.8.1_1_x86_64.rpm | cpio -id

# additionally commands necessary
# cd etc/NX/server/packages
# tar xvfz nxclient.tar.gz
# tar xvfz nxplayer.tar.gz
# tar xvfz nxnode.tar.gz
# tar xvfz nxserver.tar.gz

# run the NoMachine client
# /compat/linux/etc/NX/server/packages/NX/bin/nxplayer
```

host: CentOS 6.7, NVIDIA Titan X, nvidia driver 352.39, NoMachine Enterprise Terminal Server 6.8.1-1.x86_64 (Evaluation Mode)
client: FreeBSD 11.2-RELEASE-p14 Linux 64bit Binary Compatibility, package linux_base-c6-6.10_1 installed

Best of all: OpenGL applications are supported, and fullscreen including resize over two 24" screens are working as well.


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## Alain De Vos (Nov 12, 2019)

Does ping in the compat work?


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## tanis (Nov 12, 2019)

OT: Yeah it does =) which had been leading to this ->  https://www.bsdcan.org/2018/schedule/attachments/473_linuxulator-notes-bsdcan2018.txt

Thread closed.


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