X Windows

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Rikkitic

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#119542 5-Jun-2013 13:47

I have been experimenting with the Windows version of the Lynx/Links text browser and would like to also try the graphics settings. Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about Linux and I can’t make sense of the X Windows software that is supposed to allow me to run graphic Links under Windows. Can anyone help me with this? I have the Links 2.7 installation with Links.exe (text version) and Links-g.exe (graphics I assume). The text browser works fine but I can’t get any display from Links-g. I tried downloading Xming but that’s about as far as I got. I think I need this or something like it to display Links-g but I have no idea how to set it up and all the documentation I can find seems to assume I am already familiar with Linux, which I most definitely am not. Any advice would be much appreciated.

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nathan

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#830953 5-Jun-2013 13:53

Might be better to post in the Linux forum

wellygary

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#830970 5-Jun-2013 14:06

nathan: Might be better to post in the Linux forum

No I think he is trying to run X-windows ( xming) on MS windows, it is just that I am guessing that most of the documentation will be phrased in very *nix terms like client and server

to the OP, you need to have Xming running ( as the server) before you will be able to run any client applications ( like lynx/link)

also to the OP, wow talk about a blast from the past,

Rikkitic

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#831146 5-Jun-2013 17:19

Thanks for the responses. @Nathan: I wasn't entirely sure where to post this but since it's about running ported Linux software under Windows, I decided to try here first. @wellygary: I'm glad my post amused you but I do actually have a real reason for wanting to do this. I also do understand what a server and client are. What I haven't been able to figure out so far is how to get Link to work with Xming, and that is what I was hoping to get help on.

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ubergeeknz

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#831158 5-Jun-2013 17:47

Sometimes you can get things to work using things like xming etc, but it's usually a nightmare. I've just got a Debian (use ubuntu if you like 'em friendly) instance inside of a Virtualbox VM - feel free to substitute your favourite VM here. I do my linux-y stuff in Linux, it's much easier, and if I get stuck I can always search online "do x in debian" or "do x in ubuntu". As you've probably noticed, trying to run Linux stuff on Windows is the path less traveled and usually only in desperate circumstances.

kyhwana2

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#831358 5-Jun-2013 22:30

Why are you trying to do this? Might be easier to install linux a VM (Use virtualbox, it's free, etc)

Rikkitic

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#831527 6-Jun-2013 11:53

Thanks both of you for the suggestion. I will look at the virtual machine but I don't really want to run Linux unless I have to. My goal is just to be able to make use of the Links browser in its graphics configuration in the most straightforward way possible. I want to use Links because it is a text browser (and an improvement over Lynx). I want to use Links-g if possible because it is still a text browser but with some added graphics capabilities as well and a few additional features like javascript. At least I would like to be able to try it to see how it compares with the pure text version. The problem is so far I have not been able to figure out how to get Links-g for Windows to display anything (Links works fine). I have very little understanding of Linux so have been floundering, which is why I asked for help here. I thought I needed X Windows to do what I wanted, and my reading brought me to Xming but I haven't been able to get it to work and I don't really understand how to go about it. That is my story.

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kyhwana2

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#831568 6-Jun-2013 13:05

What exactly are you trying to do by using links/lynx?

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Rikkitic

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#831603 6-Jun-2013 14:07

kyhwana2: What exactly are you trying to do by using links/lynx?

We live in the black hole of New Zealand. Although we can see a major city from the hill behind our house, we can't get broadband. We have been trying for years. The rural broadband initiative will probably pass us by since we are on a road to nowhere that isn't financially interesting to providers. Our only option is satellite, which we have ruled out as too expensive and too slow. Our dial-up is terrible, even by New Zealand standards, and it seems to be getting worse. Even with the fastest browser (Opera) it can take five minutes to load a single web page (if we are lucky). Even turning off images doesn't help as much as it should because all the layout rubbish still gets downloaded. Some time ago I started playing with Lynx in the hope that a text browser might offer an acceptable compromise between speed and performance, but it didn't do what I needed. Then I discovered Links. It actually works pretty well and is blazingly fast, even on our connection, but it still doesn't quite meet our needs. The graphics version, which is still text-based but offers a better user interface and some other improvements, sounds ideal. If only I could get it to work.

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deadlyllama

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#831663 6-Jun-2013 15:45

Rikkitic:
kyhwana2: What exactly are you trying to do by using links/lynx?

We live in the black hole of New Zealand. Although we can see a major city from the hill behind our house, we can't get broadband. We have been trying for years. The rural broadband initiative will probably pass us by since we are on a road to nowhere that isn't financially interesting to providers. Our only option is satellite, which we have ruled out as too expensive and too slow. Our dial-up is terrible, even by New Zealand standards, and it seems to be getting worse. Even with the fastest browser (Opera) it can take five minutes to load a single web page (if we are lucky). Even turning off images doesn't help as much as it should because all the layout rubbish still gets downloaded. Some time ago I started playing with Lynx in the hope that a text browser might offer an acceptable compromise between speed and performance, but it didn't do what I needed. Then I discovered Links. It actually works pretty well and is blazingly fast, even on our connection, but it still doesn't quite meet our needs. The graphics version, which is still text-based but offers a better user interface and some other improvements, sounds ideal. If only I could get it to work.

Who owns the land at the top of the hill? Is there anyone nearby in the same situation? Is there a local WISP (wireless ISP) who has coverage of your area, or could be persuaded to cover it? If not, could you club together with your neighbours and DIY it?

DIY means: wireless repeater at top of hill (the gear for this is quite cheap), solar powered if getting mains up there is hard, then somewhere in town where you can get a broadband connection and an antenna pointed back at your hilltop repeater.

Of course this is totally the wrong forum if you go down that route :-)

wellygary

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#831667 6-Jun-2013 15:54

Rikkitic:
kyhwana2: What exactly are you trying to do by using links/lynx?

....The rural broadband initiative will probably pass us by...

Have you checked?

The RBI maps are here

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/about/media-centre/rural-broadband-initiative/coverage/

Chorus' network is here

http://www.chorus.co.nz/maps

Rikkitic

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#832020 7-Jun-2013 09:42

Thanks for the suggestions guys. We have been going around this circle for years and there are reasons why we can't make use of things like repeaters. Whether RBI will ever reach us is open to question. We are surrounded by hills and all that the maps say is that it may or may not work. In the meantime, I would still like to get X Windows running on my system, just to see what Links-g looks like. I am going to try again and if I still can't figure it out maybe I will post this in the Linux forum.

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