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Ask Slashdot: Easy, Open Source Desktop-Sharing Software?

Posted by timothy on from the what-do-we-see-here dept.

N8F8 writes "Like many IT professionals, I provide a lot of free help desk-type support to friends and family. I've decided to expand my support work and create a site where veterans can receive free computer help. I'm using OSTicket for the ticket reporting. What I really need is an easy to use desktop-sharing system. In the past I've used TeamViewer because it is easy to use, but it is not really free for non-personal use. Recently I switched to Meraki Systems Manager because it is free — and it uses VNC — but unfortunately it isn't intended for the one-time-use type support I'll be offering. So I'm looking for a reliable, open source, easy to use desktop-sharing solution that I can set up on my site for people to join one-time-use help desk sessions."

5 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Contact TeamViewer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Personally, I would just send the company behind TeamViewer a mail; explaining your case and see if they're willing to give you some leaway in this case.

    TeamViewer is an amazing piece of software that works really, really well.

    It's worth a shot, right?

    1. Re:Contact TeamViewer by Gorobei · · Score: 4, Insightful

      +1. This is the obvious answer.

      The optics are great (veterans, help, non-profit.)

      First, fix your website so that it is obvious what you are offering and how you deliver it ("we are off-line now" does not cut it.)

      Second, send a mail to TeamViewer's CEO or PR explaining what you do, what you need, and how you can help them in the PR space (you put thanks on your site, they can point to you as a good deed, you are available for journalists.)

      Better than a shot, it should be a slam-dunk if you do it right.

  2. ChunkVNC + Instant Support by iCEBaLM · · Score: 5, Informative

    ChunkVNC + Instant Support is great and can be found here: http://www.chunkvnc.com/ Do yourself a favor and click the "Help" at the top of the page to get to the forums and look for rat's 4.0 fork.

    Basically what you do is run a repeater on an internet accessable box, use the scripts to customize and create a small (2mb usually) "instantsupport.exe" that you can link on a website somewhere, and then when the user runs it, they either pick a support technician, or get an ID number that you use to connect to them, through the repeater, using the chunk viewer.

  3. UltraVNC Single Click by number11 · · Score: 4, Informative

    UltraVNC Single Click is a small (Win) executable customized to connect the user to your address. You run VNC Viewer in "listen" mode. It's very simple to use, doesn't require installing, can be downloaded by the user or sent via email (if they can receive .exe files), works through user NAT. I've been using it for years, directed to my dynamic IP via dyndns. You can customize what the user client looks like. Don't know if it works with Win8 though, and it doesn't work for users running OSX or Linux.

  4. Chrome Remote Desktop (not OSS but very easy) by Tetravus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Google published a remote desktop plugin for the Chrome browser. It's not Open Source, but it is free (as in beer), and professionally written installation / setup instructions are available in multiple languages.

    Actual remote access for you will be controlled by the user, they create a one-time passkey in Chrome and share that with you to connect to their system.

    Here's the plugin page: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desktop/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp

    Here's the support page: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523?hl=en

    For non-technical users adding a browser plugin is going to be much easier to understand than messing around with port forwarding and system permissions.