On 03/31/2017 01:53 PM, Konstantin Olchanski wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 07:40:15AM -0400, James M. Pulver wrote:
>>
>> Shouldn't we all take a step back here and ask why your IT support
>> isn't providing the resources you need to run the experiment?
>>
>
>
> Cue-in the usual "expectation vs reality" meme.
>
> The reality of IT support is you open a helpdesk ticket and they close
> it with 2 answers "you are not permitted to do this" or "we do not support
> what you are trying to do".
>
> The actual reality of IT support is they do not have 100 network engineers
> sitting around doing nothing (think firemen at the fire station)
> waiting for your request, ready and eager to jump in and help you.
> Even if IT department has people who can understand and implement
> special non-standard unusual things, such people are usually
> super busy and overworked. Good luck getting their attention
> and a piece of their time.
>
> As they say, salvation of the drowning is the responsibility of the drowning.
>
> So we all should better learn how to swim. This is why this place is generally
> very supportive to people like the guy with the present request/question.
>
>
> K.O.

This is true, but in this case I wonder if the person is drowning 
because they followed their GPS (google) off a cliff into the ocean, and 
then called "car talk" (https://xkcd.com/582/), who's now telling them 
to find some driftwood, a tarp, some duct tape and build a raft ... to 
save them from drowning.

I don't want to demean the user, or frustrate anyone, and I do want to 
help. I just have to wonder, what sort of experiment needs to be 
remotely controlled on a linux server from a tablet using something that 
looks targeted at controlling TVs or Stereos?

Is the tablet really the only way to remote control this computer? If 
you could use a laptop, or even a VM that you remote controlled via more 
"standard apps" from the laptop, the whole wifi thing goes away. If you 
use something like Anydesk, you get the whole UI, but only need natted 
connections, no special ports. I guess it's possible there's no Campus 
WiFi, or the configuration or funding precludes a laptop vs a tablet, 
but then again there's adding a NIC and or buying a router, time 
configuring, etc etc. That's not free.
--
James Pulver
CLASSE Computer Group
Cornell University