Ubuntu Linux® For Dummies®

Chapter 19. Connecting to the Dark Side: Working Remotely on Windows

In This Chapter

• Introducing the Remote Desktop Protocol

• Configuring Windows Remote Desktop server

• Connecting to your Windows computer using Remote Desktop

Creating Ubuntu Linux is all about creating a platform that encourages and helps you to access and share information. Your Ubuntu computer is based on open source software that lets you use and modify it as you wish. Open source is a brilliant concept that has changed the world by allowing the free exchange and use of ideas.

However, just because Ubuntu is based on open source doesn't mean it can interact with proprietary operating systems and software. Open source doesn't preclude using closed source when necessary and appropriate. Ubuntu provides many tools for such interaction, and I've found one such tool useful when I need to remotely access and control Windows computers.

Proprietary software — including applications and operating systems — is owned and protected by the owner of the operating system and software. The owner can be a company or an individual. Typically the owner licenses but doesn't sell the software for others to use. For instance, when you purchase a computer, it usually comes with Microsoft Windows installed. You own the computer but not Windows or the applications, such as Word, that come with it. Microsoft's license gives you the right to use their software but not to modify it or even to understand how it works.

Having the ability to connect ...