I guess it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you are trying to edit on the remote machine, just open the files directly in emacs is the best bet:

I guess it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you are trying to edit on the remote machine, just open the files directly in emacs is the best bet: http://stackoverflow.com/a/20624538 http://stackoverflow.com/a/20624538 (side note, this is one of the best parts of org-mode, it supports remote links to files. When you open the link, it will open it in a buffer and depending on your config, even switch to the correct mode). On the same page there's a tip to set up dired (an emacs file browser) to browse the remote machine and open files within emacs. You can also run eshell or ansi-term from within emacs, if that's what you need to do. So I guess I don't find much need to run a client system, but I'm not 100% sure what your needs are.