[SWLUG] remote assistance software

[Daniel Morris]

I use NX from nomachines.org, following a tip at a LUG; but have
upgraded family machines to Linux for many years - so I don't have any
windows experience with the clients. As this is driven over ssh I have
just that one port open and forwarded through their routers, using
dyndns.org to provide a static IP address. 

Help requests usually take the form of phonecall, and in response I'll
launch an NX session to "shadow" their screen and the user just needs to
accept the request that pops up on their screen to allow me to remotely
see what is puzzling/misbehaving.

I've found the performance over long/weak ADSL to be quite astonishing,
but one tip is to switch off any fancy desktop wallpaper (eg family
photos used as a backdrop).

I also use NX to remotely login to machines graphically (ie not
shadowing an active user) and this works a treat, even to launch
VirtualBox to run the proprietary accounts package which only runs under
Windows.

I've also heard of, but not tried, the Chrome Remote Desktop extension
(for Chromium/Chrome). A plus there might me a simpler remote first
install.

 Daniel