Share Mouse and Keyboard with QuickSynergy

Productivity Sauce
Even when you work at home or in the office, your netbook can make a handy addition to your computer setup. For example, you can use your netbook to run a Twitter or an IRC client, so you can use your primary machine to do some actual work. But switching back and forth between your main machine and the netbook can be rather inconvenient. Enter QuickSynergy, a graphical tool for the Synergy application which allows you to seamlessly share the mouse and the keyboard between two or several machines. The clever part is that QuickSynergy/Synergy is purely a software solution which uses the good old TCP/IP protocol to share the mouse and keyboard between machines on the same local network. Better yet, it allows you to copy and paste text from one computer to the other.
To enable the mouse and keyboard sharing, you have to install QuickSynergy on both machines. If you are running Ubuntu-based distros on your computers, you can install QuickSynergy using the sudo apt-get install quicksynergy command. Launch QuickSynergy on the machine that is going to be the server (or Share in QuickSynergy terminology) and type the hostname of the netbook you want to control in one of the four fields. Each field allows you to specify which border of the server's screen should act as a switch. For example, if you enter the hostname in the Right field, you can switch to your netbook by moving the mouse cursor to the right edge of the server's screen. The cursor then magically jumps to the netbook's screen, and you can use the mouse and the keyboard with your netbook. Note that you must enter the hostname not the netbook's IP address. To find out the exact hostname of your netbook, simply run the hostname name command on it. When you've entered the hostname, press the Execute button to start the server. Launch then QuickSynergy on your netbook, switch to the Use tab, and enter the IP address of the server in the Server hostname/IP address field. Press the Execute button and you can then use QuickSynergy to control your netbook.
comments powered by DisqusIssue 269/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.
-
openSUSE Leap 15.5 Beta Now Available
The final version of the Leap 15 series of openSUSE is available for beta testing and offers only new software versions.
-
Linux Kernel 6.2 Released with New Hardware Support
Find out what's new in the most recent release from Linus Torvalds and the Linux kernel team.
-
Kubuntu Focus Team Releases New Mini Desktop
The team behind Kubuntu Focus has released a new NX GEN 2 mini desktop PC powered by Linux.