thin client

msah

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How can I use a micro thin client (Linux)? After I attach it to a monitor, it asks for username, password and server name. Where do I get the username, password and server name?
 


Hello @msah, and welcome! A thin client is not really a full fledged computer... it is more like a dumb terminal and needs a server to do the real work. So you must provide the server and establish their network connection! Here is a Wikipedia article that describes these devices:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Cheers
 
Hello @atanere
Reading the above thread, a stupid idea come to my head.
Let's say that I have a thin client and an external disk and then I will connect them together and all together with a monitor, it would be a complete machine?
As far as I know inside a thin client there is a basic sound & graphic card and a RAM is that correct? So I could have a "native" machine.

Actually I should start a new thread but I don't think is that so necessary :D:p
 
Hello @atanere
Reading the above thread, a stupid idea come to my head.
Let's say that I have a thin client and an external disk and then I will connect them together and all together with a monitor, it would be a complete machine?
As far as I know inside a thin client there is a basic sound & graphic card and a RAM is that correct? So I could have a "native" machine.

Actually I should start a new thread but I don't think is that so necessary :D:p
Not a stupid idea, Captain... it's on topic and I think the OP will appreciate expanding the conversation for his benefit as well.

I have a couple of these devices at work, but I'm not responsible for setting them up or maintaining them, so my personal knowledge is next to nothing. Besides the Wikipedia article above, here is another overview from a company that seems to sell them.

You are correct in that they do not have a hard disk for storage, but they are even more limited than that. They differ from a PC (a "fat client") in a number of ways... all in the effort to save money, energy, maintenance, etc. So, they do not possess a complete operating system themselves. As the OP found, when you connect one to a monitor and turn it on... it expects a network connection to a server. So that capability is included in its minimal internal OS... it knows how to phone home to a server, but that's about all (on it's own). If the server can be reached, then it can access the tools and applications that it needs to be useful... but those tools/apps are actually running on the server. That's why this strikes me as very much like the old days of using a dumb terminal on a mainframe computer network. But it's more high-tech now.... and some folks think this is the future of "cloud computing." And maybe it is.

A lot of people might appreciate the inexpensive thin client installed at home with simple directions to connect to the server on their ISP... and all they need to do after that is run the tools they want... a virtual Windows, running Office, web browser, email, and some other basic tools. No PC needed... no hard drive, no defrag, no anti-virus, no Windows Updates.... heck, that almost appeals to me! :confused::eek::D (No, I think I'll stick with Linux.)

They certainly are an interesting technology... but they just aren't really a computer by themselves.

Cheers
 
So the username, password and server name asked is actually that of the internet service provider like broadband or wifi connection?
 
So the username, password and server name asked is actually that of the internet service provider like broadband or wifi connection?
No, not at all. Thin clients are designed to be used in a business environment... they are not home computers. They are not "complete" computers at all... they have limited capability on their own. They need to connect to a server just to run basic applications, but that means a business or corporate server, not an ISP. That is what it is prompting you to do when you turn it on.... it wants to connect to a business or corporate network. If you don't have a company network to connect it to, then it is basically a paperweight.

Unless.... perhaps there are ways to hack the device and make it do other things, as @CptCharis was suggesting above. Perhaps it is even possible to boot it up on a Linux USB flash drive. Maybe some things are possible, but remember that they are not designed to do these extra things, and they may not work no matter how hard you try (and different brand devices may work, while others will not). I found this link that might give you some ideas and some hope that it may be more useful than a paperweight. :D

Cheers
 
So if I attach the Linux USB flash drive to the thin client, it would still ask for username, password and server name or just start up like other computers?
 
So if I attach the Linux USB flash drive to the thin client, it would still ask for username, password and server name or just start up like other computers?

My guess is that it will not boot on the USB flash drive. You will only find out if you try it.

Have you read any of the links I've provided above?

Cheers
 
Are there any companies /websites that offer Linux registrations so I can use the username, password and server name to log in to the Linux operating system?
 
Are there any companies /websites that offer Linux registrations so I can use the username, password and server name to log in to the Linux operating system?

I'm sorry, @msah, but I don't think so. I think you still expect the thin client device to behave like a regular computer, and it is not.

Perhaps someone else can explain this to you more clearly. Good luck.

Cheers
 

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