Introduction

Hello! This will be a quick little guide on getting remote desktop sharing setup so that you may both receive and provide remote desktop support to or from your friends and family (or do anything else that a remote desktop connection may be useful for)!

This is really a simple setup but before we get into it I have some quick information about this guide! It was written for Linux Mint 10 (Julia) but should be close for both Linux Mint 9 LTS (Isadora) and likely Linux Mint 11. And since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu and Debian it should also work well for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx), Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), and Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal). On the Debian side of things, Debian Squeeze, aptosid, and Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) should also all be fairly close.

I will try to keep this guide updated for the foreseeable future, but if I fail to and you run into any sort of problem or inconsistency between the guide and what you are seeing on your own system please leave a comment or shoot me an email and I will try and help you as best as I am able!

Anyway, for those that may not know, remote desktop sharing which, is also known by names such as Virtual Network Computing (VNC), desktop sharing, Remote Desktop Connections (RDC), and others, is a great way to both work on your own or another’s computer when it is inconvenient or inaccessible to access it locally.

Conversely, it also offers a terrific way to receive support if you’re new to, or learning about, using Linux Mint or any other piece of software (as we all get stuck from time to time)!

Unfortunately, if you are a novice computer user getting over the initial hurdle of properly setting up your system for desktop sharing can be a pain and a bit stressful (especially if you’re already having problems with other parts of your system!), but thankfully under Linux Mint this setup is quite simple!

This guide, like my others, is written for all user levels. There is no command line used here and I try to write in plain and casual English to keep the atmosphere light and relaxed. With that said, you will need to know the difference between the left and right mouse buttons and other basic computing concepts. For more information please see my About page otherwise lets move on the the Pre-Installation steps on the next page (and if you get stuck please don’t hesitate to let me know)!