6 ms·

There's a slightly different approach with a similar outcome: sharing the keyboard and mouse between two machines. Software used to be called Synergy, but that

There's a slightly different approach with a similar outcome: sharing the keyboard and mouse between two machines. Software used to be called Synergy, but that went commercial, so there's a fork called barrier. https://github.com/debauchee/barrier https://github.com/debauchee/barrier

throwaway742 4y ago
I helped my friend set this up back in the day so he could have WoW running on one computer and the wiki open on the other. IIRC he didn't have enough RAM on his main computer so running FireFox in the background tanked his FPS.
nanna 4y ago
> Compatibility. We use more than one operating system and you probably do, too. Windows, OSX, Linux, FreeBSD... Barrier should "just work". We will also have our eye on Wayland when the time comes. Wow that sounds handy indeed.
- prmoustache 4y ago
  Note: Wayland already works for the "server" (the machine sharing the keyboard and mouse).
- robmccoll 4y ago
  It's great. I run a desktop running Windows with WSL2 for Linux and a MacBook Pro beside it. With some combination of a shared mouse, keyboard, clipboard, SSH, and SSHFS / NFS the experience is pretty seamless.
alsobrsp 4y ago
I have been using Barrier or its predecessor Synergy for 20 years. Fantastic stuff.
LocalPCGuy 4y ago
Been using Synergy and recommending it for many years, paid for it a long time ago as I thought it was worth supporting given how much use I've gotten from it. Besides being OS, what are the advantages of Barrier? Worth the (probably small amount of) time to switch?
- geocrasher 4y ago
  See my comment above. I couldn't get Barrier to work, went to Synergy which worked perfectly the first try.
  - mixmastamyk 4y ago
    Barrier works fine. Using it now. Interface a bit clunky but so was synergy’s.
  - biomcgary 4y ago
    I paid for Synergy, but couldn't get it to work across all of the OSs I use. Synergy provided a refund, which was nice. Barrier worked fine for my multi-OS use case (Windows, MacOS, various Linux distros). For some reason, I had to restart Barrier periodically when I was on mesh wifi (by Vilo), but when I switched to a different wifi AP (Starlink's actually) Barrier worked consistently.
el_don_almighty 4y ago
Barrier user for over 7 years across OSX, WIN, and Linux. It beats all other solutions. Light, open source, and reliable workhorse. Just get it.
- rcarmo 4y ago
  Same here. I'm using it now to type this. Comes with pretty much every Linux distro, just get the matching version for Windows or Mac and you're done.
albert_e 4y ago
Anyone used MicrosoftGarage Mouse Without Borders and can provide some comparison based on experience / tips ? I have used Mouse Without Borders across work and personal Windows machines -- mostly works with occassional quirks. I think there is some latency though when mouse input is routed through another PC.
wccrawford 4y ago
I use Barrier all the time, but it has a tendency to lock up on OSX and I have to use a physical kb/mouse switch to go fix it occasionally. (Or I could remote in with a program, I guess.)
exceptione 4y ago
Can someone comment on Barrier vs input-leap? (https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap?) It looks like input-leap has drag-drop in the works, but apart from that I have no clue which one is the blessed one right now.
- sidpatil 4y ago
  Input Leap is an active fork of Barrier. It looks like Barrier is unmaintained. https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/issues/1414 https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/issues/1414
  - aliqot 4y ago
    I've given a squint eyed sideways glance at the forks ever since part of the forking contingent tried to reference the author's username "debauchee" as a reason it should be forked, because the name could be seen as offensive. "The name debauchee is not professional and should not be associated to a popular project." From the github thread linked above. How disgraceful.
geocrasher 4y ago
I'm on Windows 10/11 here, and I tried Barrier, having used Synergy so long ago I was using CRT's and wasn't out of date. I could not get Barrier configured. It just didn't work. I ended up just purchasing Synergy for $30, and it worked immediately, and now I have my 15.6" laptop with a 11" Surface Go sitting next to it, and can copy/paste between them and use the Surface like a second monitor, but it's actually a second computer with its own processing power, which is pretty nice.
- rejectfinite 4y ago
  If you are on Windows Mouse Without Borders is free and works great over wired connection https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35460 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=354...
  - geocrasher 4y ago
    Ah, so much software is available! But, I'm not on any wired connections. My primary use case for Synergy is mobile.
- LocalPCGuy 4y ago
  Definitely felt like a pretty low cost. I've worked with their support briefly also which helped me resolve an issue I was having (been so long ago now I honestly don't remember what it was). I'm literally typing on my Windows PC from my Mac laptop right now. I used to use it a lot for testing Windows browsers (less needed now that IE is dead and Edge is Chromium). The only issue I really have now is once in a while I can't use my keyboard on the client computer(s), and that is because my server is currently my work Mac, and the terminal will occasionally request secure lock (probably when I use sudo) and as part of that, the keyboard is not allowed to be accessed by programs like Synergy until the lock is released. But Mac gets kinda buggy once in a while and doesn't properly release the lock. Most of the time it just works though, and I've gotten way more than my $30 worth at this point.
dr_kiszonka 4y ago
Logitech Flow (free) has that feature, but I don't know how well it works. I only use it for customizing my MX Vertical. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/options.html https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/options.html
jancsika 4y ago
What about x2x? It works for me across a laptop and an RPI. Or if you're using Wayland, I'm sure they have an even better solution that has been around for negative three months already. :)
ashirviskas 4y ago
Barrier has been abandoned, the currently supported fork is now called input-leap: https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap
- sandos 4y ago
  Wow, they have 664 open issues, 503 closed. For a software that specifically wants to keep things simple. I don't envy them.
  - MuffinFlavored 4y ago
    https://symless.com/synergy/purchase https://symless.com/synergy/purchase Pay $29 once or use open source software with 600 open GitHub issues... :D
    - patrick451 4y ago
      For all I know, their jira backlog has 6,000 bugs in it. Just because I can't see them doesn't mean they don't exist.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

throwaway742 4y ago

I helped my friend set this up back in the day so he could have WoW running on one computer and the wiki open on the other. IIRC he didn't have enough RAM on his main computer so running FireFox in the background tanked his FPS.

nanna 4y ago

> Compatibility. We use more than one operating system and you probably do, too. Windows, OSX, Linux, FreeBSD... Barrier should "just work". We will also have our eye on Wayland when the time comes. Wow that sounds handy indeed.

prmoustache 4y ago
Note: Wayland already works for the "server" (the machine sharing the keyboard and mouse).
robmccoll 4y ago
It's great. I run a desktop running Windows with WSL2 for Linux and a MacBook Pro beside it. With some combination of a shared mouse, keyboard, clipboard, SSH, and SSHFS / NFS the experience is pretty seamless.

alsobrsp 4y ago

I have been using Barrier or its predecessor Synergy for 20 years. Fantastic stuff.

LocalPCGuy 4y ago

Been using Synergy and recommending it for many years, paid for it a long time ago as I thought it was worth supporting given how much use I've gotten from it. Besides being OS, what are the advantages of Barrier? Worth the (probably small amount of) time to switch?

geocrasher 4y ago
See my comment above. I couldn't get Barrier to work, went to Synergy which worked perfectly the first try.
- mixmastamyk 4y ago
  Barrier works fine. Using it now. Interface a bit clunky but so was synergy’s.
- biomcgary 4y ago
  I paid for Synergy, but couldn't get it to work across all of the OSs I use. Synergy provided a refund, which was nice. Barrier worked fine for my multi-OS use case (Windows, MacOS, various Linux distros). For some reason, I had to restart Barrier periodically when I was on mesh wifi (by Vilo), but when I switched to a different wifi AP (Starlink's actually) Barrier worked consistently.

el_don_almighty 4y ago

Barrier user for over 7 years across OSX, WIN, and Linux. It beats all other solutions. Light, open source, and reliable workhorse. Just get it.

rcarmo 4y ago
Same here. I'm using it now to type this. Comes with pretty much every Linux distro, just get the matching version for Windows or Mac and you're done.

albert_e 4y ago

Anyone used MicrosoftGarage Mouse Without Borders and can provide some comparison based on experience / tips ? I have used Mouse Without Borders across work and personal Windows machines -- mostly works with occassional quirks. I think there is some latency though when mouse input is routed through another PC.

wccrawford 4y ago

I use Barrier all the time, but it has a tendency to lock up on OSX and I have to use a physical kb/mouse switch to go fix it occasionally. (Or I could remote in with a program, I guess.)

exceptione 4y ago

Can someone comment on Barrier vs input-leap? (https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap?) It looks like input-leap has drag-drop in the works, but apart from that I have no clue which one is the blessed one right now.

sidpatil 4y ago
Input Leap is an active fork of Barrier. It looks like Barrier is unmaintained. https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/issues/1414 https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/issues/1414
- aliqot 4y ago
  I've given a squint eyed sideways glance at the forks ever since part of the forking contingent tried to reference the author's username "debauchee" as a reason it should be forked, because the name could be seen as offensive. "The name debauchee is not professional and should not be associated to a popular project." From the github thread linked above. How disgraceful.

geocrasher 4y ago

I'm on Windows 10/11 here, and I tried Barrier, having used Synergy so long ago I was using CRT's and wasn't out of date. I could not get Barrier configured. It just didn't work. I ended up just purchasing Synergy for $30, and it worked immediately, and now I have my 15.6" laptop with a 11" Surface Go sitting next to it, and can copy/paste between them and use the Surface like a second monitor, but it's actually a second computer with its own processing power, which is pretty nice.

rejectfinite 4y ago
If you are on Windows Mouse Without Borders is free and works great over wired connection https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35460 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=354...
- geocrasher 4y ago
  Ah, so much software is available! But, I'm not on any wired connections. My primary use case for Synergy is mobile.
LocalPCGuy 4y ago
Definitely felt like a pretty low cost. I've worked with their support briefly also which helped me resolve an issue I was having (been so long ago now I honestly don't remember what it was). I'm literally typing on my Windows PC from my Mac laptop right now. I used to use it a lot for testing Windows browsers (less needed now that IE is dead and Edge is Chromium). The only issue I really have now is once in a while I can't use my keyboard on the client computer(s), and that is because my server is currently my work Mac, and the terminal will occasionally request secure lock (probably when I use sudo) and as part of that, the keyboard is not allowed to be accessed by programs like Synergy until the lock is released. But Mac gets kinda buggy once in a while and doesn't properly release the lock. Most of the time it just works though, and I've gotten way more than my $30 worth at this point.

dr_kiszonka 4y ago

Logitech Flow (free) has that feature, but I don't know how well it works. I only use it for customizing my MX Vertical. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/options.html https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/options.html

jancsika 4y ago

What about x2x? It works for me across a laptop and an RPI. Or if you're using Wayland, I'm sure they have an even better solution that has been around for negative three months already. :)

ashirviskas 4y ago

Barrier has been abandoned, the currently supported fork is now called input-leap: https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap

sandos 4y ago
Wow, they have 664 open issues, 503 closed. For a software that specifically wants to keep things simple. I don't envy them.
- MuffinFlavored 4y ago
  https://symless.com/synergy/purchase https://symless.com/synergy/purchase Pay $29 once or use open source software with 600 open GitHub issues... :D
  - patrick451 4y ago
    For all I know, their jira backlog has 6,000 bugs in it. Just because I can't see them doesn't mean they don't exist.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]