6

I can successfully open a ssh -X connection from host.home to host.work (both Mac OS X). X11 is running on host.home. When I start xterm or xeyes on host.work I see it on host.home, but if I start macvim it runs on host.work, not in host.home.

Is it possible to remotely use macvim on host.home, or can only X11-enabled programs be used for remote interaction?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

No, only X11 programs can be used remotely. Mac OS X native apps use a completely different toolkit. From this in the Apple Stack Exchange:

The Mac OS X native application do not use the X protocol for the rendering, but the Mac specific protocol. So you cannot use ssh X protocol forwarding as you could with a Linux workstation.

As a (not as good) solution you could use VNC.

Improve this answer
1

Mac OS apps don't use the X protocol. But the de facto standard for remote GUI interaction is VNC, which OS X supports natively. Enable Screen Sharing under System Preferences -> Sharing and you can use a VNC client running locally under X11 to interact with the GUI on the remote Macintosh.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    I know. But the problem is that with slow connections, the replication of the entire desktop through VNC is frustating. Do you know if the vnc server can use, for instance, fmwm2, or any other lightweight windoe manager?
    – cibercitizen1
    May 20, 2012 at 10:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .