[SGVLUG] SCALE5x Booth - Volunteers and Ideas: LinuxDoc and Dumb Terminals

[David Lawyer]

> > Dustin Laurence wrote:
> 
> > > What would be rather cool would be a computer running full multiple
> > > graphical terminals, like has been advocated for schools.
> > > 
> > > I don't know a think about it, though.
> > 
> On Mon, Dec 25, 2006 at 11:25:25AM -0800, Jeff Carlson wrote:
> > Ooh.  I heard about something like this.  Basically, one computer with
> > multiple video cards (or dual-output cards), and multiple USB keyboards
> > and mice.  Each video output is paired to a keyboard and mouse (as
> > opposed to a normal multi-head display) and thus they become terminals
> > to the computer.
> > 
> > I think that would make a very viable demo.

At first I was amazed at this but then on further consideration didn't
really believe it.  Then I searched the Internet and found that my
doubts were partly correct.  The problem is that by design, the USB and
monitor cables are for short distances only, like a few feet.  So that
rules out connecting a lot of monitors and keyboards to one PC.  But
what is "a lot"?

It's claimed that one can connect 9 additional monitors and keyboards
to one PC.  I guess it might look like a table with the the computer
in the center.  The commercial name is "userful" and it costs about
$100/seat (retail).  So it's not free but they let you try out a
2-user system free.  Is there any free alternative?

This setup is a genuine GUI dumb terminal since monitors and keyboards
have nil computing power.  The other alternative, the Linux Terminal
Server Project (ltsp), uses low-power computers at each workstation so
one could call them smart-terminals (but people sometimes also call
them "dumb terminals").  Since low-power computers (low in both
computing power and electric power) are cheap these days, it's not too
much more expensive than the direct connection which requires a number
of video cards.  And with ltsp you can locate these smart-terminals
(AKA thin clients) a long ways away from the server.  Also, old used
computers that are nearly free in cost (except for the electricity to
run them) can be used as thin clients.

One question.  For the direct connection, is there a server?  I don't
think so since keyboards and monitors aren't computers and can't
possibly be clients.  And without clients, you can't have a server.
That's the way it was with old dumb terminals in the 1970s and 1980s.
It's just multiuser.

Since both schemes use Xwindow, you likely will not be able to get a
text-console screen (virtual terminal) although there's always xterm.

			David Lawyer