Linux

For rdp take a look at remmina

Sounds like your workflow is very much not operating system portable. If you are interested in Linux get a laptop and install linux mint.

Bummer! Sounds like a pain in the ass.

I wish I had a suggestion for you, but I only use two monitors and all of my work is ssh, no RDP needed.

I am a long time Linux user but even I am struggling recently as I have finally started working towards migrating my last windows machine ( strictly for gaming ) over to Linux with a windows partition for the one off chance I need to play on windows still. Currently only 1.5 of my monitors work ( my left monitor top half is black. ) It is fine in post, bios and windows but not in my fedora distro. Also, my performance tanked even though I can see my GPU is working as intended. My high refresh monitor is also not playing nice and ghosting all over the place, unlike in windows where there is only standard tearing when there is a frame rate mismatch.

Fortunately for me, I like tinkering and solving these issues, but I can imagine for someone wanting to avoid messing with their equipment it is probably more of a headache than a challenge. But I have personally always been of the mindset of using the tool that works best for you, with the exception of any moral considerations you may have. (I am just not a fan of windows or apple as a company.)

Good luck with your issue and I hope you find a resolution, but if not, I would just use what works.

Thank you for sharing your story!

For your kind of use case and issues, I'd recommend finding someone local with a good amount of Linux experience and do a couple of pair sessions. I find this transports a lot more (especially 'soft') knowledge on concepts and how to do things efficiently. Also, it helps to share frustrations ;-)

Linux does not try to be another Windows. While it's fairly possible to treat it kinda as such especially in newer times, it won't feel efficient or convenient that way, in my experience.

That sucks. I've found that 90% of stuff works fine in Linux, 5% works if you jury rig it enough, and 5% just straight up doesn't work - and if that last 5% is needed for your job, then you're SOL. For me the few things that don't work are worth giving up because of how much I hate Windows' spyware and adware, and all my work apps work fine in a browser window so I've never had to worry about that.

This sounds like a lot of my experiences with Linux. Before I went back to Ubuntu which mainly solved the specific issues I had. Not saying it will solve someone elses.

News Flash!

"Linux is still a pain in the ass, even for experienced IT professionals." More at 11...

I've run Linux for a great many things over the years. Running 2 AWS LightSail instances for my own use. Running dozens of Ubuntu Server instances at work. Shit just works.

But Linux is a hard fail for a daily driver. Maybe not for you, but for most of us it sucks.

I've tried and tried and tried, for 20+ years. Of course I can make it work, but it's a pain in the ass. I got work to do on my daily driver, and fucking around as well. I need a desktop that just works. With everything.

I read "boot", "side by side with windows, "ubuntu", Nvidia" and some awfull war flashbacks came back to haunt me.

As someone who grew up toying with both windows, Mac and Linux I think people always underestimate how hard it'll be to migrate to an OS they never tried before. I've seen lots of people getting frustrated that way, regardless of the OS.

So I'd say being an IT guy or a tech illiterate won't change much in that regard. I guess being an IT might at least give you shortcuts but you'll still hit a wall if you don't check beforehand if all your needs will be easy to access and how much pain you'll have to deal with.

At least that's my take on it.

But yeah, Ubuntu can be awfull depending on your needs. Windows and Linux don't make good neighbors, windows is always the one trying to murder the other, and Nvidia is a nasty piece of work.

There are two different RDP implementations in Linux: freerdp (which is the underlying library for remmina as well) and rdesktop. Each has its own set of bugs. No idea if rdesktop offers better support for what you want to do—I use it, but I only have single-monitor setups at both ends. (It has an annoying bug that can make it require multiple attempts to establish a connection, though.)

You tried. That is far more than many people. Good for you!

I have had similar experiences, but from Linux to other OSes. The mental models for using them are really different, and those don't get enough discussion.

Sound like fun 🙃 frustrating fun, but hopefully you get something that works when you come back to it. Unusual setups always pay the price.

I would suggest trying a remote desktop solution other than rdp... Although I can see how that may not work since it would involve installing software on your work machine.

but who would have thought something that sounds as simple as wanting to RDP across 4 monitors would be so damn difficult.

The ubuntu unstability surprised me (not that I would recommend it anyways), but this didn't. Isn't RDP a proprietary protocol of Microsoft? Probably not too many use it in the Linux world

Bummer that it's giving you such a hard time. On rdp: Linux/Linux doesn't even need it. ssh to remote. Run gui app. It runs on remote and displays locally. Wayland is probably going to kill that though. Until it does, the X11 client / server model is pretty swank.