I propose that we switch our default remote desktop client from Remmina to the new GNOME Connections app.
Brief History
Ubuntu Desktop currently includes Remmina in the default install (although not in the minimal install). Remmina has been Ubuntu’s default remote desktop client for a decade.
One of the early unique GNOME 3 apps was GNOME Boxes. Boxes was introduced as an innovative app mixing together virtualization and remote access. You could use it to connect to virtual computers running on your own computer or remotely. The remote computers could be virtual but did not have to be.
Although GNOME included in their list of core apps, it wasn’t included in the default install for most GNOME distros except for Fedora. My opinion is that while virtualization is a neat feature, it isn’t yet something that needs to be pre-installed on every computer in the office.
Recently, the remote desktop client part of GNOME Boxes was removed from the app. GNOME Boxes still exists and is still being developed but it will only work with local virtualization. GNOME Connections has been introduced as a new remote desktop client app. Although new, it is built on libraries and code stretching back many years.
GNOME included Connections in its core apps for the first time for the GNOME 41 release.
Features
GNOME Connections supports RDP and VNC. In the future, it is expected to support SPICE and SSH. The user interface is very simple.
GNOME Connections is a GTK3 app. As a core GNOME app, it is expected to switch to GTK4 soon, but not in time for GNOME 42 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Availability
GNOME Connections 41 is available in Ubuntu 21.10 or in the current development release 22.04 LTS. The version in 21.10 has some bugs that were fixed in the newer release.
Dependencies
From a MIR perspective, it adds a new dependency: gtk-vnc. gtk-vnc was previously in Main as a dependency for Vinagre and Virt Manager.
I don’t think demoting Remmina to universe will reduce any other dependencies in main.
Discussion
In general, I think it’s helpful for our users to include simple apps that work well by default. People that need more complicated apps are welcome to install those instead.
I don’t connect via RDP or VNC much so I’m looking for feedback. Is the GNOME Connections app adequate for inclusion by default in 22.04 LTS or should we wait until afterwards? Are there critical features that are missing? Are there major bugs?