Hrvach/Deskhop: Fast Desktop Switching Device

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on news.ycombinator.com

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  • synergy

    Deskflow is the new name for Synergy Community Edition

    I use a software called Synergy.

    https://symless.com/synergy

    I have one keyboard and mouse connected to one "host" machine, and two machines connected as clients.

    Sometimes if the host machine bogs a bit (like running a build or something) then the clients will have some latency but I've used this setup for gaming and work for two years and it's been pretty good.

    My only complaint (about my personal setup, not the software) is that one machine has absolutely no peripherals attached to it aside from a monitor, so if I need to update the software, I need to connect a keyboard and mouse in order to do so.

    Again, an issue with my setup and a caveat of using software as opposed to hardware.

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  • barrier

    Open-source KVM software

    Synergy is open core, these portions are licensed as GPL: https://github.com/symless/synergy-core/#License-1-ov-file

    There is an open source fork that branches off version 1.9: https://github.com/debauchee/barrier#what-is-it

  • input-leap

    Open-source KVM software

    This announcement was only added to the README in early October[1]. In the meantime you can of course compile it yourself/grab a build from GH actions. I'm sure they would appreciate the testing, especially leading up to release :-)

    [1]: https://github.com/input-leap/input-leap/commit/78ca8f1ef7b6...

  • display-switch

    Turn a $30 USB switch into a full-featured multi-monitor KVM switch

    Now it just need to be combined with something like https://github.com/haimgel/display-switch to do a DDC/CI monitor input switch as the USB activity moves around.

    With a device like this you'd be missing the on_usb_connect event, but presumably you could do something (a special HID device button, an extra device id appearing, who knows) to make it work.

  • deskhop

    Fast Desktop Switching Device

  • PowerToys

    Windows system utilities to maximize productivity

    - https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys

  • Open and cheap DIY IP-KVM based on Raspberry Pi

    Open and inexpensive DIY IP-KVM based on Raspberry Pi

  • inputexec

    Simple program to execute commands on keypress on headless Linux

    I recently put something together similar to this, to switch between my personal PopOS/Windows machine and my work Macbook Pro.

    I used one of these manual USB switchers, (https://sabrent.com/products/usb-sw30), and connected it's switch to a Raspberry Pi 4B via GPIO (4B is overkill by wanted hardwired network). There's a small separate keyboard (which will later be a macro keypad of some sort), connected to the Pi. Using inputexec (https://github.com/rbarrois/inputexec) to detect keypresses and then firing off a specific script to send a network request to the LG TV I use as a monitor to switch the source, and then set the GPIO connected to the USB switcher to high or low to switch the keyboard/mouse to the other machine.

    I can also turn on/off the TV using the same WebOS API (and Wake-on-lan) as used during the source switch. A Kasa smart outlet also gets toggled to turn on/off a BenQ ScreenBar Halo (https://www.benq.com/en-us/lighting/monitor-light.html).

    So with 4 different keypresses, I can switch to Work, to Personal, turn off monitor and light, and turn on monitor and light.

  • tinypilot

    Use your Raspberry Pi as a browser-based KVM.

    I make one that I put a lot of effort into documenting:

    https://github.com/tiny-pilot/tinypilot

    It's pretty easy to extend since it's just Python and vanilla HTML/JS/CSS, so there's not much of a toolchain to install.

    You can buy it pre-made for $399 or make a DIY one for under $100.

    https://tinypilotkvm.com/blog/build-a-kvm-over-ip-under-100

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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