I just installed barrier server on my raspberry pi and set up hotkeys to switch between 3 machines to send the input to, there is also an option to have the mouse continue out of the screen into the next screen monitor on a different computer which could be clever if using multiple monitors.
It is apparently a fork from a program called synergy which at some version turned into a paid software. I guess the devs
priority was to make the open source version up to date.
I'm a paid user of synergy and despite not necessarily loving the attitude and the direction of the company behind it, I find the software invaluable. Not just for the space saved on my desk, but also for copy-pasting across different environments (though it breaks on rich text - I have to wash things through notepad at times), sometimes I even abuse it uuencoding small files and moving them across. I use it on 2 different mixes of Windows, FreeBSD, MacOS and Linux(Pi).
Another big win is the mental order it ingrains in me - e.g. this screen is for sensitive browsing on a sandboxed machine, this is for shells and corporate intranet, that is the gaming box etc.
Also - its "follow focus" (really follow machine) behavior is the perfect sweet spot between alt-tabbing and true follow focus: if I move the mouse to the next screen, I'm focusing an app in that machine. Move back, my inputs go to the last focused app on the previous system. Can't explain this easily in words but it's so good - better than 2 monitors hooked to the same box.
I'll keep a close eye on barrier. I'm happy to see its open source core remain available and maintained.
I started to use barrier a few days ago, and one problem arose almost immediately: the lack of support for AltGr key, which a lot of non us keyboards rely on for special characters. In my case, I can't type a # or @ using barrier, making it barely usable...
I've been using Synergy[0] in the past, but I eliminated the use-case for me. Only have one machine on my desk nowadays.
It's commercial but works like a charm.
This here looks very promising, but since I already have a license and no more use-case I'm a bit bummed I can't/won't check it out..
Assuming the two options are equally secure:
Depending on your setup, it could add a level of convenience.
Potentially, sending just keystrokes as opposed to a full graphical interface might be less prone to lag (just hypothesizing here)
For me it replaces the unplugging and plugging of a usb cable, so when I discovered the barrier github repo a few days ago I just realized it was a solution to a problem I didn't realize I was having.
I run multiple pcs (Linux, win, imac). Barrier setup lets me control all three like a multi monitor setup. Its suitable for gaming on windows with Linux as the input host (hotkey to lock input to one host).
Generally just super convenient when I want to control multiple real machines with dedicated displays. I even sometimes use it for Linux laptop + win tablet portable setup.
I made something similar as a toy project after being frustrated with Synergy/Barriers poor support for my keyboard layout (Czech).
It's for Linux only as it relies on udev and the encryption (AES with a key derived from a password shared between clients and server) is not ideal, but it was a fun project for sure.
I love Barrier. I have a PC as my main machine with my keyboard and mouse and then I have my MacBook to the side. I find Barrier so smooth that it honestly is just like the MacBook is just another screen. My only gripe is that the copy paste between the PC and MacBook seems to only work one way some days and sometimes not at all.
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[ 0.32 ms ] story [ 40.1 ms ] threadAnother big win is the mental order it ingrains in me - e.g. this screen is for sensitive browsing on a sandboxed machine, this is for shells and corporate intranet, that is the gaming box etc.
Also - its "follow focus" (really follow machine) behavior is the perfect sweet spot between alt-tabbing and true follow focus: if I move the mouse to the next screen, I'm focusing an app in that machine. Move back, my inputs go to the last focused app on the previous system. Can't explain this easily in words but it's so good - better than 2 monitors hooked to the same box.
I'll keep a close eye on barrier. I'm happy to see its open source core remain available and maintained.
So please, if someone reads this that wants to hack on that, please do!
https://github.com/debauchee/barrier/issues/109
https://github.com/debauchee/barrier/issues/100
This here looks very promising, but since I already have a license and no more use-case I'm a bit bummed I can't/won't check it out..
[0] - https://symless.com/synergy
Why would I use Barrier instead?
People use Dropbox instead of sshfs, so I bet there is a reason. I just don't see it.
Potentially, sending just keystrokes as opposed to a full graphical interface might be less prone to lag (just hypothesizing here)
For me it replaces the unplugging and plugging of a usb cable, so when I discovered the barrier github repo a few days ago I just realized it was a solution to a problem I didn't realize I was having.
Generally just super convenient when I want to control multiple real machines with dedicated displays. I even sometimes use it for Linux laptop + win tablet portable setup.
It's for Linux only as it relies on udev and the encryption (AES with a key derived from a password shared between clients and server) is not ideal, but it was a fun project for sure.
https://github.com/htrefil/kshare