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One mouse, many computers

I’ve been reorganising my desktop (the physical one, not the virtual one) recently.

I now have a tidy desk, complete control over two computers and four screens, and have a VNC connection to a headless Raspberry Pi as well – it’s a really cohesive experience 🙂

Synergy logo

I now have a tidy desk, complete control over two computers and four screens, and have a VNC connection to a headless Raspberry Pi as well – it’s a really cohesive experience 🙂

So I’ve not got a MacMini (main workhorse) with dual video outputs to two screens, and my Linux test server (called “The Borg” because it’s in a clear ATX case with lots of internal lighting) which is also running two screens.

But this meant two keyboards, and two mice. And I was constantly picking up the wrong mouse/keyboard.

For the MacMini I use an Apple Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, and wanted to use this for both computers. I do have a 4-port KVM switch, but that would just add more clutter to the desk.  So I decided to look into software to run multiple computers from one mouse and keyboard.

After testing a number of solutions, I settle on Synergy, available at: http://synergy-project.org/

I can’t recommend this highly enough.
I did take a bit of work to configure correctly, but now I move my mouse to any of the four screens (two Mac and two Linux) and type right there – just awesome!

One of the reason I chose Synergy is that it has clients for Mac, Linux, and Windows. Although I don’t use anything Windows I’m sure many of you do. There are even builds specifically for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Red Hat.

I now have a tidy desk, complete control over two computers and four screens, and have a VNC connection to a headless Raspberry Pi as well – it’s a really cohesive experience 🙂

Stuart Mealor
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Stuart Mealor

Stuart is interested in all things e-learning, with specific interests in Moodle, e-learning strategy, and business development. His experience in education over 30 years, MBA in International Business, and knowledge of e-learning systems implementation, together with graphic design background, give him a unique skill set for e-learning projects.

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