Is there a future for WinVNC on TigerVNC

[Danny Park‏]

Hi TigerVNC Developers,

I noticed TigerVNC 1.11.0 Beta has been released.  In that release, the Windows VNC server (WinVNC) has been separated from the Windows TigerVNC Viewer.  It is also mentioned that WinVNC is buggy and unsupported.  Is this a first step toward removing WinVNC completely from TigerVNC?

I have been in process of providing a compilation solution for MSYS2/Windows.  However, it seems like a waste of my time to continue if you are dropping WinVNC altogether.

Thanks,

Danny

[DRC‏]

There are two actively-supported open source WinVNC solutions-- UltraVNC
and TightVNC v2.x, and UltraVNC contains the same high-speed codec as
TigerVNC.  Thus, I struggle to understand why anyone would prefer to use
TigerVNC's implementation of WinVNC.  Use an implementation whose
developers have a vested interest in supporting Windows servers.

[David Bolton‏]

On 9/7/2020 12:08 PM, DRC wrote:
> Thus, I struggle to understand why anyone would prefer to use
> TigerVNC's implementation of WinVNC.

I use TigerVNC on windows because of it's built-in support and UI for
certificates.

David

[Pierre Ossman‏]

On 07/09/2020 20:26, Danny Park wrote:
>
> Hi TigerVNC Developers,
>
> I noticed TigerVNC 1.11.0 Beta has been released. In that release, the
> Windows VNC server (WinVNC) has been separated from the Windows TigerVNC
> Viewer. It is also mentioned that WinVNC is buggy and unsupported. Is
> this a first step toward removing WinVNC completely from TigerVNC?
>

Possibly. There is no firm plan here. But if no one steps up and starts
maintaining it, then it will likely get worse until it reaches a point
where we remove it.

> I have been in process of providing a compilation solution for
> MSYS2/Windows. However, it seems like a waste of my time to continue if
> you are dropping WinVNC altogether.
>

Maybe. But on the other hand, if you and others can continue helping out
in getting WinVNC working better then I see no problem keeping it around.

Regards
--
Pierre Ossman Software Development
Cendio AB https://cendio.com
Teknikringen 8 https://twitter.com/ThinLinc
583 30 Linköping https://facebook.com/ThinLinc
Phone: +46-13-214600

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?

[Danny Park‏]

Hi Pierre,

> I have been in process of providing a compilation solution for
> MSYS2/Windows. However, it seems like a waste of my time to continue if
> you are dropping WinVNC altogether.
>

Maybe. But on the other hand, if you and others can continue helping out
in getting WinVNC working better then I see no problem keeping it around.

 

I would be happy to help out.  However, so far my experience has been frustrating. The Windows server doesn't compile as is--a patch is applied for the official build.  I think the first step to getting help from Windows developers is providing a solution in Windows for compiling (even better if that solution works in Windows in a timely manner).  I have made multiple attempts to contribute a solution.  I have tried to be responsive to your comments.  However, for every comment I respond to I need to wait another month for your response.  By that time, you have add features or make changes that require further changes on my part.

What exactly are you looking for?  Would it be better if I break my pull requests into smaller pieces?  Do you want me to leave the static build alone and just fix the dynamic linking build?

Thanks,

Danny

[P Shoaf‏]

Just a note, TighVNC has not made any changes to their Linux version in the past 10 plus years. They are only maintaining the windows and Java versions. They have also created viewer versions for Ios and Android. 

As long as there is 1 version that works well on Linux and a version thats works with Windows, and they work with each other I can live with it.

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[DRC‏]

That was basically my point.  I acknowledge that there are some protocol
features in the TigerVNC server implementation, such as TLS encryption
or the RFB flow control extensions, that don't yet exist in TightVNC or
UltraVNC, but it would be easier to port those features into TightVNC or
UltraVNC than it would be to stabilize and maintain TigerVNC's WinVNC
implementation, given that none of TigerVNC's principal developers cares
about WinVNC.  Heck, I make a living doing open source contract work, so
if anyone wants to pay me to develop and submit enhancements to UltraVNC
to make it more TigerVNC-friendly, I could do that.  I ported the
TurboVNC encoder enhancements to UltraVNC some years ago as a funded
development project.

[Pierre Ossman‏]

On 09/09/2020 16:22, Danny Park wrote:
>
> I would be happy to help out. However, so far my experience has been
> frustrating. The Windows server doesn't compile as is--a patch is applied
> for the official build. I think the first step to getting help from
> Windows developers is providing a solution in Windows for compiling (even
> better if that solution works in Windows in a timely manner). I have made
> multiple attempts to contribute a solution. I have tried to be responsive
> to your comments. However, for every comment I respond to I need to wait
> another month for your response. By that time, you have add features or
> make changes that require further changes on my part.
>

Unfortunately that is part of the problem, we are pressed for time. So
we're not responding to PRs as timely as we'd like. :/

> What exactly are you looking for? Would it be better if I break my pull
> requests into smaller pieces?

When possible, yes. If complex issues are holding back simple things
then it can be best to split things.

> Do you want me to leave the static build
> alone and just fix the dynamic linking build?
>

I'm positive to improving the static build as well. But as we've seen
that is more difficult. So we always recommend focusing on the dynamic
linking first as that is the most reliable way to build things
correctly. Static linking will always be a bit magical and brittle.