Telnet//:

[Nummi]

I have my G4 (running OS X) and my 7500/100 connected to each other with a regular network. Can I use Telnet on my 7500/100 to get into OS X? How would I do that over the network?

 

[blb]

To turn on telnetd on your OS X box, see Can't get telnet to work.

 

[onan]

I'd strongly recommend using ssh instead of telnet; it gives you all the same functionality and more, and provides strong encryption for the entire session.

People have a tendency to consider telnet 'safe enough' on extremely small networks. Bollocks! There are many instances in which it's difficult to conclusively know what is and isn't able to listen to your network. And telnet doesn't provide any additional functionality, so there's no circumstance in which it's more appropriate.

There are several good ssh clients for oldschool macos. I used niftytelnet-ssh (a slightly separate version from the standard niftytelnet), many people prefer macssh.

This also simplifies the setup on the server side. Just check "Allow remote logins to this computer" in the Sharing pane of the System Preferences to turn on the ssh server.

 

[davidbrit2]

If you're just using the two computers on an isolated local network, then ssh would be completely unnecessary (unless you've got spies in your house.) However, if you're connecting to one from the other across the internet, or if the two computers are both connected to the internet then you will probably want the added security of ssh. You never know when misconfigured routers, cable modems, or other equipment at an ISP might allow sniffing of your local network traffic.

 

[onan]

Yes, there are always a few situations in which telnet really isn't any riskier than ssh. But they tend to be more rare than people ever seem to think. And given that ssh is just as easy, it usually seems best to just recommend its use for everything.

 

[davidbrit2]

Yeah, ssh is just as easy to set up on the server, but I have had some problems with certain clients that didn't want to initialize the encryption key properly, or some crap like that. If you can find a good, reliable ssh client, then it shouldn't create any trouble.