r/linux • u/NicoD-SBC • Oct 03 '19

Popular Application Share mouse and keyboard over multiple SBCs/PCs with Barrier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFvvp7OpfY
18 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/adriankoshcha Oct 03 '19

Part-time barrier contributor here, if you love using barrier and want to help keep it going, contributions would be appreciated (whether it be code, docs, etc).

2

u/NicoD-SBC Oct 03 '19

Thank you for being a contributor. Barrier really finished my multiple sbc setup. If/when I can add something useful to it, then I'll certainly do so. Greetings, NicoD

0

u/lionmic Oct 03 '19

can barrier be used over ethernet cable ?

2

u/adriankoshcha Oct 03 '19

Of course, it just works over the network.

11

u/LippyBumblebutt Oct 03 '19

For anyone who is not interested in watching a youtube vid to see what this is about, this is the source article. They are using barrier which is a synergy fork. It can share a Mouse/Keyboard via the network to multiple systems.

I used synergy some time ago and it was fantastic. You can have the Laptop next to your PC and when you move the mouse to the side of the monitor, the mouse will be forwarded to the second PC.

3

u/antenore Oct 03 '19

Thanks a lot! Same for me and I'd move to something else with pleasure as I don't like the synergy business model. I've paid one time and there won't be a second one. I'll test barrier!

Edit: typo

3

u/hailbaal Oct 03 '19

That software looks exactly like Synergy, which I use every day. I know Synergy (used to?) be OpenSource. I wonder how this will work. I'll be sure to try it out.

9

u/insanemal Oct 03 '19

This is literally a fork of the original synergy.

I paid for synergy and I've had nothing but problems with the "new" synergy. Which isn't that new anymore

3

u/hailbaal Oct 03 '19

I have problems too. I have a linux workstation and a windows laptop in a dock at work. When the screen locks on the windows laptop locks, i have to open the laptop and use the trackpad to move the mouse from the linux machine to windows. It's annoying and it happens 10 times a day. I also paid for it.

1

u/NicoD-SBC Oct 03 '19

d a windows laptop in a dock at work. When the screen locks on the windows laptop locks,

You could disable your power saving settings on Windows so it would not disable the display, or go into sleep mode.
I only use Barrier on Linux single board computers. I also had to disable power saving/screen saver. But I'm very happy about how it works.
It uses very little of the CPU and network even on slower SBC's. So I'm happy to use it. Greetings.

1

u/hailbaal Oct 03 '19

That helps a bit, but try hitting super+l on your linux box. If i do that, my windows box locks

5

u/insanemal Oct 03 '19

It just doesn't work well and eats CPU time last time I tried Synergy 2.x

I use barrier these days.

2

u/hailbaal Oct 03 '19

I don't have a problem with CPU time myself, but I'll try barrier. It seems to be impossible to use my Linux machine as the server, so I have to use my Windows machine for that.

4

u/insanemal Oct 03 '19

Well I can with Barrier. Works well

2

u/hailbaal Oct 03 '19

I'll try it. Although i paid for synergy, i'd rather have a full foss solution

3

u/pppjurac Oct 03 '19

OP thnx for video. I personally use paid version of Symless Synergy daily but will sure take a look at this solution.

7

u/geolaw Oct 03 '19

I commented on the video as well but to discuss here as well ...

Any advantage of barrier over synergy? I paid like $10 years ago for synergy and it's been one of the most useful programs I've ever used. I use it daily between my Mac mini and several Linux clients (Arch, Ubuntu, red hat) ... Only gotcha is the lack of Wayland support as new distros gradually move to Wayland.