Free and Open Source Software @beehaw.org Sneaky Bastard @feddit.de 11 mo. ago

FOSS alternatives for Teamviewer

Currently I'm looking for a Teamviewer replacement. I think Rustdesk looks very promising.

It would be important that the software runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Android) and is accessible via the cloud, because I also want to install it on my parents' PC, for example, and can't set up a VPN bridge or similar there.

Do you have an opinion on the subject or a tip for me?

21 comments

Ruskdesk works perfectly in my expiriece. Any reason that it didn't fully satisfy you?
- Not at all, i just wanted to hear some different opinions from this community, just in case i was missing out on something
RustDesk

That being said, it's developed by Chinese and communication with them is tough. Some security issues still haven't been patched (no one actually knows why, they either don't reply why or reply in Chinese with a cryptic message like "why ask this" or something weird like that). They're also notoriusly against anyone speaking anything against them (I once commented on their subreddit that the devs are mostly Chinese, so communication is kinda difficult, after someone asked why they don't reply or give scarce replies regarding issues and PRs on their GH).

Still, it's free and open source, so you can give it a spin if you'd like. The servers that come by default are super slow, the idea is to make your own (which kinda beats the point of actually having some sort of a replacement for TeamViewer or AnyDesk... if I wanted to set up my own server, there are other open source alternatives), which drew me away from it from the start.

I still use AnyDesk with version 7.0.14 for Windows and version 6.0.1 for Linux. The older Windows versions because there is no red bar over the window that says "free version" or whatever and the older version for Linux because it just works better than the latest one (6.2.x), I have no idea why.
I would also look into MeshCentral
- Thanks I'll look into it!
  
  I just read that they are sunsetting their own public server so in the future you might need your own server to make use of it. So if that is not something that you want to do that might be a reason to go for RustDesk instead.
I used to use Teamviewer and then I switched to rustdesk and have never looked back. I use it between a mini pc, a windows pc, a work computer, and android device, and a linux machine with no issues.
Was pretty supprised to find out that you now need to log in to an account to even do a basic TeamViewer session. It legit feels like every time I'm forced to used it to help out old people the UI is getting more bloated
Not FOSS, but if you're working an in windows environment: Windows Remote support. Easily started by pressing 3 buttons (Ctrl+Win+Q) and ships with current Windows versions.

You'll have to set some settings via GPO to be able to do admin stuff with elevated rights but it served us well since we ditched TeamViewer half a year ago.
- Does remote support now working over the cloud/internet without VPN?
  
  Works perfectly fine for us supporting our traveling sales personnel. No VPN needed afaik.
This page has some good recommendations. I suggest you to do research about each solution before picking one that fits your needs.
DWService is a favourite of mine. One self-contained program to run on the target, and a web-based interface to interact with it
- Thanks I'll have look. Do you have any experience on using the Webinterface on mobile?
  
  It works, but it is not made for mobile.
  Really tricky and scaled for mobile.
  
  Not particularly, most of my use has been on a desktop or laptop 😅
VNC and ssh routed through a VPS can work for Linux and Windows. That is what I use for both.

For android I use TeamViewer. Not sure if VNC is there for that.
I have used rustdesk before, and was pretty happy with it
there is also HopToDesk

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