Operation Manual

The Linux Command Line
167
Notes:
167
Running a remote GUI
To remotely connect to your Raspberry Pi and use its GUI you will need to
install an “X server” on your machine. Linux has an X server built in. For Windows,
try Xming (http://www.straightrunning.com/XmingNotes) or Cygwin
(http://www.cygwin.com) – you can download both for free. For the Mac OS, go
to “Shell > New Remote Connection” and choose “Secure Shell (ssh)”.
The following command uses the X switch to tell SSH to send the X commands to
the X server on your host. Enter the following:
ssh -X <IP address of RPi> -l <username on RPi>
What is an X server?
A Linux computer (or other Unix-like system) running a GUI is almost certainly
running “X” and also an X server. The X sends commands to the X Server about
what kind of things to put on the screen, and the X server does it.
This means that the GUI and the X server are separate. This also means that you
can run a program on the Raspberry Pi and have the graphical output appear on
the screen of the X server somewhere else on the network. This removes a large
amount of processor demand from the Raspberry Pi. And it also means that you
can just plug your Raspberry Pi into your network, rather than giving it its own
monitor, mouse and keyboard.