Ubuntu: Up and Running

Chapter 10. Networking Ubuntu

In this chapter, we’ll look at how to connect your Ubuntu computer with others, whether they run Linux, Windows, or OS X. We’ll cover file and folder sharing, using one keyboard and mouse to operate multiple computers, and logging into remote computers.

In the past, many of these operations took a lot of wrestling with highly technical configuration options. Getting the networking right could be a fiddly and time-consuming task. But nowadays advanced networking is nothing to be frightened of, because it’s generally just a matter of using your mouse to click a few options, maybe entering the name of a computer to which you wish to connect, and clicking a Connect button.

This chapter assumes you can reach the local network that connects the computers in your home or office. Make sure you are connected to your local hub and the Internet, using the instructions in Chapter 3 as needed in your environment. To show you how easy it is, let’s jump right in and start accessing one computer’s desktop remotely via another one.

Remote Desktop

Ubuntu comes installed with a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) program with which you can echo another computer’s desktop onto yours, either in a window or taking up the whole screen, as though you were at that machine. You can also operate that computer through VNC if you have been given that privilege.

You may wish to do this to provide assistance to other people remotely, or so you can work on different computers in different ...