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I fear I know the answer to this already, but I would like to be able to connect to my Mac Mini in a 'remote desktop' fashion.

I would like to connect to my Mac as if I were sat at my desk, but I want to be able to access it from my Ubuntu machine.

I'm using Snow Leopard and Ubuntu Server 8.04.

Cheers!

EDIT

So I tried the screen sharing option, the problem I have with this is that the screen resolution I see is that of my 22" at home, so on my little netbook the 1920 x 1200 resolution requires lots of scrolling this way, and scrolling that way etc etc.

With my experience of Windows systems, the remote desktop protocol spawns a new session specifically for remote access, solving the screen size problem and means the machine doesn't have to be logged in to be connected to.

Is there an option of this nature that I could explore, instead of sharing the screen?

I did try LogMeIn, unfortunately this had the same effect as the screen sharing.

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5 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

On the Mac: Go to System Preferences -> Sharing and enable "Screen Sharing".

On Ubuntu: Using any suitable VNC client (xtightvncviewer appears to be the most compatible), enter the IP address or host name or your Mac Mini and then connect. You should now see your Mac's desktop.

For added security, click on the "Computer Settings..." button in "Screen Sharing" to enable and set an additional VNC password if required.

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Nice one! Completely missed that one :D, will accept when I get it to work. – Ben Everard Mar 8 '10 at 11:06
I've tried your suggestion, it works ok(ish)... but see my edit for a full update, – Ben Everard Mar 9 '10 at 9:41
Whilst RDP takes advantage of Terminal Services to do this on Windows, VNC can't do this on the Mac, Windows or Linux. I use both solutions (VNC and LogMeIn) on various platforms (Mac, Windows and iPhone) and always have to change the screen resolution to suit or scroll. Sorry. – Asinine Monkey Mar 9 '10 at 15:57
Okay, looks like this is my best option. Many thanks :-) – Ben Everard Mar 15 '10 at 10:29
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up vote 3 down vote

You can use VNC. It is platform-independent.

From Linux, TightVNC will connect to an Mac OS X session served by Apple Remote Desktop if the VNC option is enabled.

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Many thanks! +1 – Ben Everard Mar 8 '10 at 11:07
See my updated question. – Ben Everard Mar 9 '10 at 9:41
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up vote 0 down vote

This may not be the best solution for you, but I use SSH, but it's not on by default.

To enable it, from system preferences, go to Internet & Networking > there is a Sharing > Remote Login.

The best part about SSH for me is that I can access it painlessly from anywhere including my phone!

EDIT: This is going to be the most cross platform support you're going to get out of any of these options.

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Thanks for your answer, I use SSH for the usual stuff, including from my iPhone etc, but in this scenario I would like to use Coda for web development whilst out and about / at work. Cheers! – Ben Everard Mar 8 '10 at 15:35
I do have it all set up using Dropbox so all of my files are synced to the 'cloud', and then back down to my netbook, and working on them on that is great but sometimes being able to access apps from the mac is priceless. – Ben Everard Mar 8 '10 at 15:37
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up vote 0 down vote

LogMeIn Free works with PC/Mac as a server, and PC/Mac/Linux as clients.

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See my updated question. – Ben Everard Mar 9 '10 at 9:42
There is an option in LogMeIn to scale the display to fit. Options, View, Scale to Fit. – churnd Jul 11 '10 at 13:38
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up vote 0 down vote

See also the more generic What’s the best Remote Desktop Application?, with options like TeamViewer and Skype.

And, as Windows Remote Desktop allows for connecting multiple users: see Can a Mac Machine be used by Multiuser at same time? and Is there a multi-user Remote Desktop app for Mac OSX? if that's a requirement.

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