
Ask YC: Best cheap or free screen sharing solutions? - ericb
I'm wondering what cheap or free screen sharing solutions people have found? I have someone working remotely on my project, and it would be handy to do some screen sharing sessions. The ideal solution would let you pass control back and forth, but passive viewing is ok (if it's free). The ideal solution would also be cross platform. Thoughts?
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sysop073
If you're using a text interface, GNU Screen is excellent. I use screen
usually; VNC if I need to share a GUI

<http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/>

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staticshock
the annoying thing about screen is that both people need to log in using the
same username to share a screen session. correct me if i'm mistaken.

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iratsu
You are mistaken. See here: <http://aperiodic.net/screen/multiuser>

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vivekamn
<http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx>

Good thing is that you don't even have to install. Free for non-commercial
use.

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quaff1
thanks

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staticshock
i don't understand, you're only sharing with one person? isn't that perfect
VNC territory? both people can control the screen, it's free, it's open
source, it's cross platform... what am i missing? what's fundamentally bad
about this that no one else has mentioned it yet? maybe i'm just behind the
curve on this.

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ordinaryman
Check out <http://meeting.zoho.com>

It is in free while it is in Beta and even later it should remain affordable.

Supports Flash, Java and ActiveX modes, so your platform concerns are
addressed.

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unalone
Depending on OS, iChat works pretty damn well, and it has a feature for
sharing presentations as well. But I'm uncertain as to whether that works at
all with Windows or Linux programs.

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silencio
The screen sharing component of Leopard is just plain old VNC that you can
enable/disable on your own in Sharing prefs in System Preferences, so yes it
should work with any VNC client for Windows or Linux.

The iChat integration I'm not so sure about either. But you don't need iChat
to use screen sharing.

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icey
I use GoToMeeting. It's 50 bucks a month, so I'm not sure what your "cheap"
parameter is.

I also don't know if it's cross-platform.

That being said, it's a great piece of software; I've been very pleased with
it.

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andr
VNC.

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rmason
Go to www.acrobat.com and use Adobe's free ConnectNow service which is far
more elegant than those other solutions and free if it's just two people
connecting.

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sachinag
<http://www.mikogo.com/Welcome.aspx>

Mikogo is great and works seamlessly with Skype (but only on the Windows
side). We use this internally; launching Parallels is a small price to pay to
be able to be on the same page without having to be in the same room.

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alaskamiller
From Spolsky and Co: <https://www.copilot.com/>

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rajatrocks
A second vote for Acrobat.com's ConnectNow. You can have up to 3 people
(including you) and it works great.

I've also used Glance: <http://glance.net/site/Home.asp> and it works -
basically VNC but easier to use I think.

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johns
For Windows: SharedView
<http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=94>

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gourneau
screenstream : <http://www.nchsoftware.com/screen/>

It is a free Windows only application. What I like about that the only
software the client needs is a web browser. No ActiveX, no java, no flash. The
application is basically a http server that serves screenshots of whatever
window has focus. So it does not allow remote control.

It also supports video cams and audio.

Bonus points to anyone that create an opensource multiplatform clone.

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ghostz00
Yugma <http://yugma.com> Free Basic screen sharing abilities. And it's cross
platform

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luminousbit
The absolute best and free: www.dimdim.com

