A native graphical shell for SSH (probablymarcus.com)

Article summary

The article introduces Outer Shell, a native graphical shell for SSH that allows servers and edge devices to serve up a browser-based graphical interface. This interface provides a home screen of apps, where each app is a small HTTP server serving a web user interface. The shell uses Unix domain socket files for communication and supports both conventional HTML-based web apps and native outerframe apps. The author demonstrates Outer Shell in a screencast and provides documentation on how it works.

Main themes

• Graphical Shell for SSH
• Remote Computing
• Web-based Interfaces
• Security and Authentication
• Terminal Emulation

What commenters say

• The concept of a graphical shell for SSH is unnecessary and defeats the purpose of the shell, which is meant for CLI interaction.
• A graphical shell can be a useful alternative to terminal-based apps, especially in situations where a browser is the only available computing platform.
• The term 'shell' can refer to both command-line and graphical interfaces, and its definition has evolved over time to encompass different types of user interfaces.
• The use of HTTP basic auth in Outer Shell is insecure and vulnerable to CSRF attacks, even when used in combination with TLS.
• Outer Shell is not a replacement for existing technologies like X11 forwarding, VNC, or RDP, but rather a new approach to remote computing.
• The idea of bringing web technologies to the terminal natively, using UNIX sockets for communication, is an interesting concept that could potentially simplify the setup of graphical interfaces on headless servers.