vlab gives you a CSE lab desktop session on non-CSE computers, including UNSW library computers, your own laptop or desktop, and mobile phones and tablets.
Customising your session
The window manager — such as KDE, Gnome, fvwm, enlightenment, twm, fluxbox, etc., etc., etc. — which starts up on your screen when you log in to any CSE lab machine is controlled by what's in the .xsession file in your home directory. If there is no .xsession in your home directory then a default window manager will be started for you.
Because vlab is intended to run on screens with a far greater variety of resolutions than CSE's own lab computers, we have configured it to use a separate .xsession-vlab file. This allows you to have one window manager, possibly a very “noisy” one such as Gnome, when you're in a CSE lab, and a separate, toned-down window manager when you're, say, connecting from a tablet or mobile phone with a much smaller screen.
If you have no .xsession-vlab file, vlab will use your .xsession file.
Below are two sample .xsession-vlab files to get you started. The first starts Gnome in vlab, the second starts fvwm with the server's default configuration. Note that the file needs to be executable so run chmod a+x .xsession-vlab after you've created the file.
Keyboard navigation on a table or mobile phone
If you're planning on using a tablet or mobile phone, it'd be a good idea to configure your window manager of choice for keyboard navigation. Most window managers already do this anyway and it's mostly a matter of getting used to what keys you have to press to activate and navigate menus, open and close windows, move windows, etc.
Using an external Bluetooth keyboard will also give you more screen space.