Date: Thu, 04 May 2006 15:16:08 -0500 From: Kevin Kinsey <kdk@daleco.biz> To: Barnaby Scott <bds@waywood.co.uk> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: newbie wanting to switch to FreeBSD - planning stage question Message-ID: <445A6108.5040304@daleco.biz> In-Reply-To: <445A5C43.9080005@waywood.co.uk> References: <445A5C43.9080005@waywood.co.uk>
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Barnaby Scott wrote: > I am new to FreeBSD (or any other Unix operating system) but am very > keen to make the switch. I have read as much as I can over the last > couple of years, and am very nearly ready to ditch the various Windows > versions on my network - however there is one Windows-only application I > really cannot find a replacement for, and that is Rhino3D > (http://www.rhino3d.com/). Looking at the CAD section of the ports > collection does not offer any alternative that is at all comparable, so > I fear I'm stuck with it. > > I believe Rhino does not work with any Windows emulators either, so I > imagined I had only 2 options left - have completely separate computers > and retain Windows on one - no good because my desk is cluttered enough > already, or to go for a dual-boot one - no good either as I would > constantly be rebooting (or would in practice revert to Windows and > never get to learn FreeBSD which is what I want to do!) > > However, I don't mind having a Windows machine running somewhere on the > network out of the way, but would want to use the keyboard, monitor and > mouse attached to my FreeBSD machine. Does anyone know if it is possible > in principle to drive a Windows program on a Windows machine, but from a > Unix computer? If this is not an idiotic question, and this sort of > thing is possible, where would I find some fairly idiot-proof > instructions on how to set it up, or at least some reading to get me > started? > > I realise that a common bit of advice is to try stuff out and see, but > if I cannot see a way forward, the time invloved in installing and > learning FreeBSD would be very hard to justify, so please bear with me - > I would be grateful for any advice at this stage. > I use rdesktop (/usr/ports/net/rdesktop) to control Win XP and Win2k3 boxen, with good success, although I've had some trouble with games and other things that want to directly control the video hardware. But I can't do these games with the built-in Windows remote control either, so I'd guess that you'd be able to run your software remotely with rdesktop (unless, as I said, it want to take over the display hardware). Of course, YMMV. Kevin Kinsey -- How many people work here? Oh, about half.
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