[2] I have a specific need which I believe sTunnel will solve but not sure how to go about it. I want to access a machine that is behind a restrictive firewall from outside the network to perform perform remote desktop control. The firewall permits HTTP, HTTPS protocols and some similar common protocols. However, I do not have access to the firewall server ergo have no control/say over which ports are blocked or forwarded. I have heard about HTTP hole punching via ssl and http-tunnel - eg: http://sebsauvage.net/punching/. It sounds like sTunnel is similar/identical. Can someone point me to specific examples on how to use sTunnel as well as any examples that might satisfy my need? Is proxy server necessary to accomplish this?

To date I've been using Teamviewer to access/control my machine(s) in conjunction with things like AdVOR, TOR, or UltraSurf. While these are excellent applications and their free use are limited, I do not expect this will last forever. I prefer to use and trust 'open source' applications where/when I can.