Xorg server @ALARM

[10fi]

Hi,

I would like to have my Seagate GoFlex Home http://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv5/seagate-goflex-home running a Xorg server, while one of my PC would have the client running. The key idea would be to have client doing as much as possible (since it has a lot of muscles), while the server would be doing as little as possible (since its just a cheap NAS with ALARM on it).

The key idea behind this, is to be able to run programs that cannot be used in CLI mode, e.g. Firefox.
For example, if I want to download something very from an very slow server, have to wait in some kind of a que etc.
The other benefit of that would be the ease of using other GUI instead of CLI for some tasks.

I would appreciate, if you could back me up with some knowledge:

1/ How do I start? Where to seek guidance?
2/ Will it "kill" my session if the client is not connected (what means the whole idea lacks sense)? E.g. for SSH seassions I need "screen" to keep them alive when I'm offline.
3/ How much resources will the Xorg server need if running without the Xorg client? My main concern is will it kill my SAMBA server capacity to exchange files.
4/ Are there any alternatives to Xorg?

Thanks!

[Kurlon]

A small xorg server is easy enough to run on a GoFlex, the challenge is finding a means of getting a display hooked up to the GoFlex. I've used both SIS and DisplayLink USB video adapters on my GoFlex Net. They work, but the current fbdev driver doesn't support damage reporting so the display updates pretty slowly. Glacially slow. Until this gets resolved, x11 via USB is going to be a second class citizen for quite awhile.

I suspect that's not what you meant though. For clarification an xorg SERVER is what operates the display. The CLIENTs are any apps drawing to the display, like Firefox etc. In this case, you can't run Firefox on the GoFlex, it won't build for ARMv5 currently, neither will Chromium. ReKonq will, along with Midori but you'll run into random crashes anywhere Javascript is in use. Plus, they're RAM hogs that don't know how to play well in the GoFlex's 128MB sandbox.

And yes, if you break the connection between the server and client, your client dies so you'd have to use something like VNC or noMachine to setup a virtual server on the GoFlex which you'd connect to from your workstation if you want persistent x11 apps.

[10fi]

I appreciate your reply - gave me an idea how to tackle that!