For those with lots o' screens

[Pogosuzy]

I came across this cool software KVM.

http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

Its open source and doesn't cost anything. All you have to do to switch between computers is move the mouse off the side of the monitor and mouse just kind of scrolls over to the next computer. It works with multiple OS's, so you can switch from a windows box to a linux/OSX box by moving the mouse from one screen to the next.

I've seen it in action and used it myself, I have to say that it is very responsive. Its hard to tell that the keyboard and mouse aren't hooked up natively to both boxes.

It works as a client/server set up and communicates over IP. You install the server on a computer with a keyboard and mouse attached, and install the client on a computer without keyboard and mouse. Then you just have to set up a config file on all the clients and servers indicating the screen layout.

 

[CletusJones]

cool, i might have to give that a try.

 

[BeerAd]

finally, hummmm i wonder how many qwerky bugs are to be worked out still

 

[Penis Envy]

fantastic.. i've been looking for something to do this..

Your rock

 

[theacoustician]

THANKS POGOSUZY!

 

[b_sinning]

Pretty sweet. I'll have to use this at home. I have a nice kvm on my desk at work.

 

[fly]

LOL

I have a friend who paid for some software called Desktop Rover that does the exact same thing.

 

[CletusJones]

LOL

I have a friend who paid for some software called Desktop Rover that does the exact same thing.

:slap:
there's always an open source alternative. you shouldn't ever have to pay for software.

 

[theacoustician]

:slap:
there's always an open source alternative. you shouldn't ever have to pay for software.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah, right.

 

[Mrs. Valve]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah, right.

either that or you know someone smart enough and obsessed enough to write one themselves

 

[CletusJones]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah, right.

*shakes fist*

Unless you're using something specialized there's almost always an open source alternative.

 

[theacoustician]

*shakes fist*

Unless you're using something specialized there's almost always an open source alternative.

There is no audio or video editing freeware that can even touch some of the paid alternatives.

Freeware CAD programs are laughable when held up to AutoCAD.

I see few freeware games worth playing.

 

[Bubbles]

There is no audio or video editing freeware that can even touch some of the paid alternatives.

Freeware CAD programs are laughable when held up to AutoCAD.

I see few freeware games worth playing.

You said the name of something I can recognize!!

 

[ZRH]

There is no audio or video editing freeware that can even touch some of the paid alternatives.

Freeware CAD programs are laughable when held up to AutoCAD.

I see few freeware games worth playing.

And autodesk will own you if you steal their software

 

[theacoustician]

And autodesk will own you if you steal their software

Autodesk send me AutoCAD2006 for free. I didn't even ask for it.

 

[CletusJones]

There is no audio or video editing freeware that can even touch some of the paid alternatives.

Freeware CAD programs are laughable when held up to AutoCAD.

I see few freeware games worth playing.

I don't know too much about audio/video editing since that's not really my forte but I'm sure you're correct. Mac support for A/V editing is phenominal. Protools > *

Of course, AutoCAD is the industry standard and it uses a filestructure so closely guarded that no other viewers can open its files.

Meh, I didn't even think about games since I don't really play them that much. I've found my niche and I tend to stick to that. All the games I've paid for were purchased long enough ago that I've forgotten about them. For me a PC has been more of a tool in the past few years than anything else.

Like I said, these are all specialized applications and are really the only thing that you should have to pay for. There are open source/freeware alternatives to damn near everything else out there application wise.

 

[Pogosuzy]

There is no audio or video editing freeware that can even touch some of the paid alternatives.

Freeware CAD programs are laughable when held up to AutoCAD.

I see few freeware games worth playing.

http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/ for Adio Editing.
I'll have to do some more searching for Video editing though.
As for CAD SW and games, you are probably right.

There is quite a lot of really good quality, free, open source software alternatives out there. Problem is the reverse is also true, there is alot of worthless stuff too. You have to pick and choose I guess

 

[Fat Burger]

Support for open source is always a big thing, though. But of course some people go overboard with that. At work the network admin decided to use Tridia VNC instead of Real VNC because it's "supported". It had an ungodly amount of bugs though, I finally convinced them to switch, and we've had no problems with Real VNC.

 

[Fat Burger]

Can synergy share the display in addition to the mouse and keyboard?

No. Synergy is a KM solution not a KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) solution. However, future versions will probably support KVM. Hopefully, this will make synergy suitable for managing large numbers of headless servers.

Oh, never mind, I thought it was video too.

 

[APRIL]

Super! All I need is a second computer.