[Trilug-ontopic] driving windows from linux, off the network

[Douglas Whitfield]

I really shouldn't be awake so you should probably ignore what I am about to
say, but what about this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_USB

I don't know what you'd need to do on Windows, but in theory one box could
be a router and you could set up an internal network.  I'm not a network
admin so maybe you're simply asking how to implement what I'm suggesting.

Essentially, think about tethering a phone via USB.  Just imagine your phone
runs Windows and is the size of a laptop/desktop.

Again, no idea how to implement it as my experience is simply with phones,
but it seems like something imminently googleable.

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 23:25, Tom Roche <Tom_Roche at pobox.com> wrote:

>
> summary:
>
> How to hide a linux box (off the network) behind an XP box (on the network)
> so that I can do a maximum of my work on the former, while keeping it off
> the network?
>
> details:
>
> I recently started a contract doing scientific computing, which makes me
> happy, but I can't telework (being not merely a contractor, but a student
> contractor--peón muy bajo) and the network administration seems wacky. (And
> it's a Notes shop.) There's an inner firewall protecting the linux clusters
> on which the Real Work gets done (this is Science), and an outer firewall
> protecting the enterprise from the Real World. Pretty much everyone
> interacts directly with vanilla XP desktops between the firewalls (except
> the admins, at least some of whom run Solaris inside the inner). So I asked,
> "can I use my linux laptop instead? I'd even buy a Notes client out of my
> own pocket, just to avoid going back to windows." The admins (another set of
> contractors) not only replied "no," but said that, if I put my laptop (or
> any other device not provided by them) on the network, they will hunt me
> down and beat me. They did not, however, say I cannot have my laptop onsite,
> and in fact even provided me with a connection through the outer firewall
> (go figure). But if I want to print an article, or cut'n'paste text from a
> terminal session (et al) into my logfiles, it's thumbdrive sneakernet, which
> gets tedious. (As does tweaking cygwin. Which fortunately can be installed
> without admin, which of course I don't have on the XP box, though I have
> complete physical access.)
>
> So what I'd like to know is, how might I configure things so that I
> interact more directly with my laptop's applications and filesystem but
>
> * still do what needs to be done on XP (basically run shells to cluster
> nodes, and run Notes)
> * keep the laptop off the network
>
> The candidate solution that immediately comes to my (oh-so-not-an-admin)
> mind is connecting the linux laptop to the XP desktop and driving the latter
> from the former with some RDP/VNC client (e.g., Remmina). But how to keep
> the laptop safe from the prying whatever with which the admins presumably
> patrol the network?
>
> Alternatively, using a KVM to drive both the laptop and the desktop would
> at least reduce keyboard-shuffling hassle, but I don't see how that would
> reduce sneakernet.
>
> your suggestions are appreciated, Tom Roche <Tom_Roche at pobox.com>
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