Most FastX connections are from Windows workstations. Macs are the next most popular. Because Linux workstations are a much smaller fraction among users, the FastX Linux client has been neglected. This has changed starting with the new FastX client version 4.1.24, which should make our Linux workstation customers happy. As of this version, the FastX Linux client has caught up with the Windows and Mac clients with these features:
- Package download options: In addition to the tar file that includes everything, the Linux client is now available as a RPM (for the Fedora/RedHat family) and DEB (for the Debian/Ubuntu family) distributions. These packages are nearly 1/100th the size of the tar file, as they use the Linux dependencies to load required libraries. They also install in the usual places (/usr/bin and /usr/libexec).
- Integration with the desktop: Following the XDG specification (used by Gnome, KDE, and other desktops), the Linux client will add itself to the start menu.
- Integration with the browser: This feature has been available on Windows for some time, but the user can now log into FastX from the Linux browser, launch a session in the browser, and at the click of a link the session will be transferred to the desktop client. (This feature requires FastX server version 4.1.53 or later.)
- Browser authentication using SSH agent: For those customers who use SSH private keys for authentication, the FastX browser client can use the FastX browser extension to authenticate by using the SSH agent running on Linux.
Of course, the FastX Linux client offers all the other features present in the Windows and Mac clients, with some features only available on Linux-to-Linux connections.