Actually the "nx" user isn't required, neatx supports operating without. However, NoMachine's nxclient doesn't support this, as it assumes that it should always log in as the "nx" user. So, if you're using !M's nxclient, you need to do a small bit of modification client-side. Here's an example of what to do client-side (though the beginning of the post is specific to FreeNX): http://www.felipe-alfaro.org/blog/2009/01/18/freenx-usermode-authentication-and-mac-os-x/

Steve, Neatx project lead

I can assure you that there is no data-collection done in the code (and as it's open-source, you're welcome to verify this for yourself)

Steve, Neatx project lead

I see you're quoting http://code.google.com/p/neatx -) You skipped the critical next sentence:

"In the meantime, the best way to get neatx is to check it out from svn" (http://code.google.com/p/neatx/source/checkout)

Steve, Neatx project lead.

Python handles this just fine - the part that Neatx implements is io-bound, not cpu-bound (at least on any remotely modern platform). The bash scripts are tiny (see http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1301267&cid=28688001) and there purely for emergency error-handling.

Steve, Neatx project lead

Bigtime. Without NoMachine's open-source NX libraries, there could be no Neatx/FreeNX. They deserve major kudos for what they've done for the community.

Steve, Neatx project lead

See http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1301267&cid=28688001 for a breakdown of the language usage between FreeNX and Neatx.

Good question -) However, have a look at the different language breakdowns between the codebases.

FreeNX:
5.4k lines of bash
233 lines of C
102 lines of expect

Neatx:
5.7k lines of python
400 lines of C
54 lines of bash

The bash in neatx is there to provide wrapping of the python code, so that any unhandled errors etc are logged. It's a belt-and-britches approach.

Steve, Neatx project lead

To be fair, the NX compression libraries by NoMachine resolves those issues. Neatx just makes it possible to use these libraries without relying on non-open-source'd code.

Steve, Neatx project lead

No, it's the other way around, just like neatx.

Steve, Neatx project lead