Q I need your help with setting up two TightVNC servers: Windows XP and Mandrake 10.1. I also need help using the client, as I have never used this tool before. I used to have a KVM switch so I could switch between them both but that's now shuffled off this mortal coil. I need desktop connections to both my PCs and have been told that TightVNC was the best application to do the job. I have installed it in Linux but have no idea how to configure it or start the service running.
A You can run TightVNC on Linux with vncserver, which will create a new X server instance on the system for you. Usually this will be :1, which runs on port 5901 for VNC; you can then access this using VNC client on the Windows system. A selection of basic X applications will be started, through which you can get a terminal going.