Better Living Through Thinking

osx2x - control a remote X server from OS X

Thu, 12 Jan 2006

I use a FreeBSD 5 desktop at work next to my Powerbook (running OS X). Sometimes I wanted to share something between the two computers, but was limited to saving whatever it was as a file and scp'ing the file to and fro. Yuk.

Anyway, I finally stopped being lazy and started looking for what I knew had to be out there: a way to share a mouse and keyboard between OS X and a normal X installation.

I found a few options. A popular one is called 'Synergy'. I avoided it because it seemed "big" to me, and an X client shouldn't be big. I also didn't want to run this on "just anything": I had a specific purpose (OS X controlling a FreeBSD X setup).

In the end, I tried osx2x, which I've been delighted with. It's small and fast and really easy to use. All I had to do was make sure I added my Powerbook's hostname to the FreeBSD X's xhost acl:

xhost +mypowerbook

Now I fire up osx2x, click 'New Connection':

The menu appears, into which I type my hostname, and which edge of the screen I want to trigger the switch to the desktop:

Now each time I startup osx2x, I have my connection already setup:

There's even a preference to hide osx2x when I'm on my own desktop and show it when my mouse is on the "other" desktop (for those times when I forget where I left my mouse cursor):

Very elegant, and it works great. Apparently it works on VNC setups too (i.e., you can connect to a Windows machine running VNC in the same way). I haven't tried that yet, but might soon.

Highly recommended for those who use dual machines.