Originally posted May 15, 2016
OK, so I am an admitted lazy old bum that spends entirely too much time setting on his comfortable couch with a notebook computer handy, an FT-60 handheld radio connected to a J-Pole antenna next to him, TV remote, radio, snacks, refreshments, etc. Ayup, the “life of Riley” around the old Pondee and life is good…
slothfulness, noun used to describe “slothful”, meaning “sluggardly; indolent; lazy”.
We have several computers, (including Heidi’s notebook [Linux], my Notebook [Linux & Windows 10], the old Toshiba laptop back in the shack [Linux]) – as we have had for many years, and naturally all are connected via our WiFi/LAN, along with a somewhat embarrassing number of tablets and other devices. <blush> (Hey, I am an ancient computer/device geek who never quit that part).
Last year, I ran across a “remote control” software package, which is free for home use, called TeamViewer described as:
Remote support, remote access, and online meeting software that the world relies on – 1 billion installations and 20+ million devices online at any time.
Noting they had versions available for virtually every operating system, I decided to give it a workout between Windows to Linux, and Linux to Linux, etc. – and as a result, am still using it today. (Haven’t tried it on iOS, Android, etc., yet – but that is probably going to happen sooner or later).
I’ve been fully retired for a very long time now, so I wasn’t interested in the corporate aspect/usage, nor even going out across the Internet to remote control a computer – BUT, being a lazy old dinosaur, thought I might be able to make use of it to save having to leave my couch to go back to the shack and check for updates, or fix something on Heidi’s computer (ALL the way over on our Love seat).
Darned if it didn’t work, and work very well! The user interface is a bit cumbersome at first, but after running it for about a year it does everything they advertise, and since I’m only using it at home – it is still FREE! They are up to version 11 as this is being written, and there have been updates in this past year, but we have simply never had a problem with it.
Two days ago, it was used to install/configure/test CQRLOG on that old computer in our ham shack from our couch – reflecting upon that inspired me to write this post. TeamViewer just works for us!
Disclaimer: Being fully retired for well over 10 years, I am no longer any kind of “computer professional” nor otherwise qualified to even talk about what is going on “today” with computers and software. It takes far too much work to stay on top of technology, and more effort than this old retiree is going to be willing to spend. TeamViewer works well for our purposes, your own mileage may vary. I can, however, tell ya what works for me, and I happen to like TeamViewer. 🙂
Over my working years, operating remote desktop or server control software, (especially with cross-platform support), was a very important aspect of my business, especially from the early 90’s to about 2004. At one point or another, I’ve used many, many different “brands” – this product has to be near the top for ease of use. <two thumbs up>