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Logitech flow looks interesting. From the 30 seconds I scanned the page about it, it seems the computers need to be on the same network. So this could be as "

Logitech flow looks interesting. From the 30 seconds I scanned the page about it, it seems the computers need to be on the same network. So this could be as "simple" as running tcp client on each machine. When the current active machine notices that the mouse left the edge of the current screen it disables the keyboard and mouse on current machine, sends a notification to the other computer and enables keyboard and mouse there. Custom USB drivers could likely handle disabling and enabling the keyboard and mouse just fine, but I've never written one, so maybe I'm wrong. Edit: I was speaking more generically here. I doubt one could get the actual Logitech mouse and keyboard protocol and so couldn't implement an open source flow clone.

robbles 9y ago
Synergy (https://symless.com/synergy https://symless.com/synergy) does exactly this, cross platform, and really effectively. You don't need to write your own using a Logitech driver - it works with any standard keyboard / mouse.
- netsharc 9y ago
  Synergy stopped working for me one day, and it seems all machines have to use the same version. And they pivoted from free to charging for money. I guess Logitech is doing the same thing, but if they actually implemented it by unpairing the input devices from one receiver and pairing it to the other, that would be cool, it means I can turn off the unpaired computer, and input still works on the paired machine.
  - Rondom 9y ago
    It's still open source. So you can compile it yourself, if you want.
- kybernetikos 9y ago
  If you turn off the master computer or it crashes when the keyboard and mouse are controlling the other one, you're stuck. I would assume that this is not the case with Logitech Flow, since the keyboard and mouse genuinely do connect to both. Incidentally, 13 years ago, I used to use something very like what you're describing, back then it was called Win2VNC and X2VNC But the point I'm making is nothing to do with the seamless desktop thing, it's that the ability to switch input between different devices is something I'd like to be able to write code to control in all kinds of situations (time based, in response to events, etc), not just when the official software thinks I should or when I press the physical buttons on the device.

robbles 9y ago

Synergy (https://symless.com/synergy https://symless.com/synergy) does exactly this, cross platform, and really effectively. You don't need to write your own using a Logitech driver - it works with any standard keyboard / mouse.

netsharc 9y ago
Synergy stopped working for me one day, and it seems all machines have to use the same version. And they pivoted from free to charging for money. I guess Logitech is doing the same thing, but if they actually implemented it by unpairing the input devices from one receiver and pairing it to the other, that would be cool, it means I can turn off the unpaired computer, and input still works on the paired machine.
- Rondom 9y ago
  It's still open source. So you can compile it yourself, if you want.
kybernetikos 9y ago
If you turn off the master computer or it crashes when the keyboard and mouse are controlling the other one, you're stuck. I would assume that this is not the case with Logitech Flow, since the keyboard and mouse genuinely do connect to both. Incidentally, 13 years ago, I used to use something very like what you're describing, back then it was called Win2VNC and X2VNC But the point I'm making is nothing to do with the seamless desktop thing, it's that the ability to switch input between different devices is something I'd like to be able to write code to control in all kinds of situations (time based, in response to events, etc), not just when the official software thinks I should or when I press the physical buttons on the device.