IRC chat logs for #ltsp on irc.libera.chat (webchat)


Channel log from 3 June 2021   (all times are UTC)

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22:58
<itninja>
Hello! I still can't join the Matrix room, so I am posting my question here. Does the current LTSP allow for thin-client style of setup, where all a thin client runs is something like "ldm" that displays X/Gnome interface from the LTSP server as if they are on working on the LTSP server? (all applications are run on the LTSP server)
23:03
<vagrantc>
itninja: not out of the box. you could implement something like that using RDP, vnc or x2go on top of LTSP
23:04
itninja: unfortunately, the methods LDM used are loosing support in various upstream projects; many projects do not support network-transparent X11 that LDM relied on for thin clients
23:04
or rather, they do not support it well; there have been increasing bugs over the last 10-15 years
23:05
it is not a well tested use-case, and many have switched to wayland, so that method suffers from lack of maintenance
23:06
there's nothing LTSP can do to fix the fundamental problem, as it is various applications such as firefox, libreoffice, etc. that have had issues
23:08
the x2go stuff is pretty actively maintained, though; i think it takes a bit more resources on the server-side, but might meet your needs
23:08
itninja: good luck!
23:09
<itninja>
I see. so the current LTSP design is for working with "fat clients", and I have to ensure that the thin-computers are upgraded to have enough RAM and CPU power to run all those apps locally...
23:09
x2go... good to know. I will check it out!
23:09
<vagrantc>
i think the x2go maintainer in Debian at least actually uses it with LTSP, if i recall correctly
23:10
<itninja>
I see. thanks for the info!
23:11
btw, does anyone know why I can't "Join the conversation" in Matrix (#ltsp:matrix.org)?
23:11
*Join the discussion
23:11
<vagrantc>
i was sad to see the transparent network stuff go too, but ... it's hard to fight against the industry-wide momentum moving away from it
23:11
<itninja>
yeah... sad indeed.
23:11
<vagrantc>
not familiar with matrix yet
23:13
<itninja>
lol.. I just saw on the x2go web site...that they moved to Libera.chat and Matrix as well due to Freenode team change.. (didn't realize that Freenode team change was so major...)
23:15
re. "chrootless" and "chroot" set up in the current LTSP system... where can I find more explanation or use-case or documentation between the two? I am confused by how they are different..and from my generating the client-images for each based on the ltsp.org site's instructions, the results on the 'thin'-client side look the same to me....
23:17
<vagrantc>
yeah, not sure if there are any legitimate projects left on freenode
23:19
itninja: chrootless builds the LTSP image from the host OS's files, a chroot set up would be if you install an operating system in a subdirectory and tell LTSP to build your image from that
23:20
from LTSP's perspective, they're pretty much the same ... "/" is used in chrootless mode, and "/some/other/directory" would be used in chroot mode.
23:20
where /some/other/directory contains the complete OS you want to build an LTSP image for
23:25
<itninja>
ah I see. so the "chroot" just refers to how you build the client image. But in the client side, how it loads the image and the resulting environment are the same (provided that nothing is changed in the 'chroot' image since creation by ltsp)
23:26
<vagrantc>
right
23:27
<itninja>
Thank you very much for the clarification! I am enlightened! :)
23:28
<vagrantc>
i don't have much of a hand in the new LTSP, but i've maintained LTSP in Debian for many years and at least kept an eye on alkisg with the rewrite :)
23:32
<itninja>
I see! Did you use ldm-style transparent-X11-tunneling thin-client setup before and had to move to the new LTSP system with 'fat clients'? (I am worried that I might have to get several thin-client replaced with new more powerful boxes to upgrade from an old Ubuntu16 LTSP system to the current one..)
23:33
<vagrantc>
i haven't used LTSP in the real world for many years, so I haven't really done such a transition
23:34
long before LTSP dropped support for thin clients, fat clients were pretty much the recommended way anyways
23:35
how much ram/cpu do your old clients have?
23:37
rough estimate, no need to get exact :)
23:37
<itninja>
I see. they are most Zotac boxes.. 2GB~4GB RAM... dual-core Celerons
23:37
<vagrantc>
might be ok
23:38
<itninja>
oh? :D
23:38
<vagrantc>
can you set up a test network and try a few of them on it?
23:39
obviously, more ram is better
23:39
there might be some options for network swap, too ... not sure what the current recommendation is
23:40
might even perform better
23:40
the overhead with LDM was pretty high on both the client and server
23:41
one nice thin with LTSP fat clients is it requires way fewer resources on the server
23:42
main thing i would guess is web browsers these days have really grown a lot ... but a few years ago 2-4GB ram was a solid indication to encourage switching to fat clients
23:43
but it will be better able to take advantage of the local GPU, and it won't require network traffic for every mouse movement and keystroke
23:44
<itninja>
yes. I will be doing some testing. the current set up has a beefy LTSP server.. lol .. cause the idea then was FAT-server + thin-client structure.
23:45
<vagrantc>
cut the server in half and serve multiple networks :)
23:45
<itninja>
true. there will also be several changes required to switch to fat-client set up.. due how user environments are set up in the server and how certain resources and permission are all set up /controlled in the server...
23:56
hmm..one question: with the current LTSP set up with fat clients.. do the clients need a local hard drive?
23:56
<vagrantc>
no
23:57
<itninja>
ok. I assumed so. good!
23:57
<vagrantc>
it wouldn't be LTSP if it did :)
23:57
that's the fundamental problem LTSP solves ... network booting your OS