synergy

I really like Synergy myself, use it every day, etc, but let's take note that nothing has been done with this software in over a year. Have the developers moved on? Is there any intent to fix the issues? I'm at the point now where I find issues related to Synergy and don't bother to report them here because I don't believe anything will be done. That only leads me to look elsewhere for other offerings/solutions.

Can someone confirm that there is any life to this OSS offering anymore?

I feel the same way, theres still quite a few bugs and some features that are still lacking. If this project is dead, i sure hope someone skilled enough picks up where they left off.

synergy isn't dead. yes, it's been a while. you're wrong about it being a year but understandably so -- several patches were applied to SVN recently but i didn't make a release for that, so unless you were looking at SVN you wouldn't know that.

i took a holiday from synergy for a while and now i'm working on a 2.0 release. however it's difficult for me to find time for that, maintain 1.3, read the forums, and do my full time day job. so i'm focusing on 2.0 (and my day job). i should note here that synergy is primarily just me.

i know it's frustrating for you all. it's frustrating for me too. it makes it hard to predict when i'll be able to release something with a useful subset of functionality. i also prefer not make promises about the functionality.

despite the above, i hope to have a prelease sometime in march. at mimimum it should have mouse, keyboard and clipboard support. and maybe the start of a new GUI on all platforms; i consider that a required feature of the 2.0 final release. this is a major rewrite that will hopefully fix a number of the more difficult bugs in 1.x and make configuration much, much simpler.

talk is cheap but development time is expensive. i hope you'll bear with me. of course there may be other similar projects and forks. if those work better for you then by all means you should use them. competition is a good thing.

cheers,
-chris

Chris-

Have you though of maybe making a 1.3.x team that will support the patches and bug database while you are pounding on 2.0? Or maybe getting some help from some of the coders in the community?

Just a suggestion:
from active usage experience, the major issue is the copy/paste buffer
(defined as buffer corruption/disappearance after x-duration);
so perhaps we (collectively) define list of major issues
(hopefully including this copy/paste buffer) &
prioritize (by vote) &
knock off the top 3 issues in order of convenience.

Supporting a 1.3.x team, whoever that might be, would still require a significant amount of my time. I'd rather focus on the core of 2.0 then on supporting and coordinating volunteers to improve on that.

I thought this was open source. If you feel it isn't working, fix it. If your patches aren't accepted, fork it.

That's great to hear it is still in development.

Would it be possible to get a new 1.3 build with the patches applied? I've just recently had to stop using synergy because of stupid problems and things not working that interrupt my work flow and I'm hoping a patched release might help fix some of the issues I'm having.

I hope that we get a build soon, it's April now. Synergy is just an amazing program!

Agreed, I use and rely on Synergy and am happy to see the developer is still working on it. The biggest annoyance for me is the CTRL sticky bug http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1693640&forum_id=199580

It's easily reproducible.

Thanks for the awesome program!

Mmm... kinda a shame we haven't seen an update for this in over 2 years. Last build was April 2nd 2006. I mean it still works sometimes but when it doesn't it's a huge pain in the ass.

As Chris has stated, his goal is not to update Synergy 1.x but to eventually release Synergy2 and include the fixes in that version. However, keep in mind he is currently the only programmer on this and that he's doing this in his spare time for FREE. Judging by the state of the code and the speed of its evolution as he reported on April 14th 2008, I don't expect even a preliminary release until much later this year.

I think we all owe Chris a debt of gratitude for having Synergy come this far. I don't know if economic incentives will encourage him in any way (I sent him a few $$) but please do keep in mind that he is doing this in his spare time, and lord knows in this day and age, that can be hard to find :)

It's good to know Chris is still working on Synergy. I've been using it for a long time, and look forward to release 2 (whenever that may be)

In the mean time, perhaps some of us seasoned users can help with forum questions to ease the load even if we can't help on development right now.

Thanks again Chris, and I echo the props you have already received.

All,

I don't want to be rude, but we should all be thanking the developers for this amazing FREE product that works very well. Granted, there are some bugs, but bottom line is that Chris has clearly stated that he has a day job and works on this in his spare time. If you want to help or are frustrated by something, grab the source and make some fixes, document them thoroughly, and submit them back.

I felt the need to post this because I know if I was working on this in my spare time, when I could be off spending time with my family or relaxing from a tough week of work, and people kept complaining that there was no update for a product I developed for FREE (BTW chris, I think you could seriously market this technology) I would be very upset. So thank you Chris from me personally, I think this an amazing piece of technology and I absolutely understand doing this in your free time with a day job as I have been there many times before.

Thanks!!!

"BTW chris, I think you could seriously market this technology"

+1

:)

I use synergy since some days. Works like a charm. Can handle all Issues with the FAQ and my own knowledge. I personally have the opinion about persons that are ranting when free software programms do not evolve fast enough (whatever that means), those should take care on their own to compete with the current developers. If they are not willing to, they should shut up.

any news?

Is there any GOOD commercial project that does similar functionality? I wouldn't matter paying for a good & reliable software that offer the same as synergy.

synergy is nice, but it's too buggy to use on an ongoing basis.

afaik, there are only (proper) alternatives if you go windows only.

I just found this project after some Google searches, it's exactly what I need, since I've got a Dual Monitor Vista Desktop PC and a MacBook Pro. There doesn't seem to be anything similar, Input Director and Multiplicity are Windows-only. I'd happily pay for this.

I have to add my thanks for a wonderful piece of software. I wish other more expensive applications worked so well.

It does go wrong occasionally, but I do not think it is a Synergy problem.
1. I have had less problems after changing to cabled network instead of wireless.
2. When it goes wrong it is usually during or after using multiple applications - when a reboot gets everything working again.

It is really fantastic that after a reboot I do not need to do anything - after a few seconds it just starts itself up again. (The server is set to run it on startup).

This is an awesome project. I stumbled upon this software and it was just what I needed. I use a linux box as my main system but need a windows system to do a few things (edit a frontpage extension website, unfortunately I've not found a good replacement for it yet) and I also have a MacBook Pro as my mobile machine. When I'm in the office I use all three systems and synergy is a godsend. I'm having issues with the cut and paste in Leopard but not a real issue. I can't wait for the release of version 2. Keep up the good work Chris!

First a big thanks for the project!

Second, I only checked back because of an obscure bug, when I was remote desktoping into my machines from home and my vi emulator under Visual Studio 2005 went mad, and I wanted go get the latest release of Synergy.

ie. I have been running 1.3.1 for a couple of years and it works _FINE_ almost all the time. There are a few bugs. Like terminal server getting lower case on the second computer, but they are _OBSCURE_.

It is a great piece of software and I am delighted that you are focused on a 2.0.

I work continuously on 2 machines, both have 2 screens, which gives me a nice 4 screen wrap around. It is absolutely brilliant. I am typing on screen 2 of my 2nd machine with the key board and mouse of machine 1.

Anyone that wants to join the project, could spend some time grok the code and fix any bugs that they hate in 1.3.1, without bothering Chris, or port it to a new platform. My feeling is that it is the sort of project that takes you a couple of weeks to get back into, and that Chris wants to focus on what he is doing.

All power to Chris.

Thanks

I too have been using Synergy for several years and love it. I am very curious if Chris would be willing to post an update to the current status of the 2.0 project as well as an anticipated release date. I understand that he is doing this in his spare time, so I am not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth. Also, if he is looking for Beta testers...I am game.

My Setup:

Synergys running on a PowerBook G4 (OS X 10.5.4) - Soon to be updated to a Macbook (OS X 10.5.4).
Left Synergyc on a Mac G5 running OS X 10.4 server.
Right Synergyc on a Dell running Windows 2003 Server.

Thanks for the awesome product Chris,

~Wavy

i just posted an update at:

http://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=5201500

-chris

Chris,

My USB controller just failed, and I found synergy. I'm a bit upset... that I didn't find it earlier! Awesome product man, thank you very much and keep up the good work if and when you find time.

Those people complaining about the bugs/features could always submit a patch :-)

Thanks again,

Fred.