Hello all,
I’m planning to install Linux Mint on the notebooks of some relatives as it’s not compatible with Windows 11 and thus not getting security updates anymore. They are absolutely not tech savvy and only using very basic stuff (web browser, print documents, maybe low level office stuff). Still I’m looking for a way to support them with some kind of remote control software if they have an issue. On Windows I liked Teamviewer for it’s simplicity, they can double click the icon and tell me the code that is displayed and that’s it. Is there something similar for Linux which doesn’t require complex setup on their end? FOSS is a plus, but not a must have.
Regards, rbn
RustDesk is excellent, it’s basically open source TeamViewer. And if you don’t want to use their servers, you can even host your own.
Thank you very much, that GUI looks very similar to Teamviewer which they already know.
if you don’t want to use their servers, you can even host your own
I didn’t download and try it yet. Do you know if you can indeed use their servers as well without self-hosting? I went to their website and scrolled through the GitHub FAQ and at first sight I can only see the self-hosted option. They even advertise it as ‘non SaaS’.
Once you install the client, it will connect to the public server and give you a message of “For faster connections use your own server” or similar, but thats it. You can test that with your own machine (or android/ios if you don’t have a second pc)
Yes, you can just install and use it straight away, no need to mess with self-hosting if you don’t want to. You also don’t need a subscription, that just unlocks some extra features.
I’m using Tailscale plus the built-in RDP in GNOME with the Remmina client.
I love Linux, and use it on all machines and devices possible, but I would never push my non tech savvy family to use it. My wife has a non windows 11 compatible with an i5 7200u CPU. I installed windows 11 on it very easily. She is happy, and the laptop works perfectly.
I would first ask your relatives if they really want Linux or if they would prefer windows 11.
If they want Linux, mint is probably the best non tech savvy option. Then use tightvnc or similar with an ssh tunnel, tailscale or something similar. Create a desktop shortcut that launches and creates the connection.
Thanks for your post.
IMHO Windows is getting harder to use with every update. Context and start menus are changing, you get annoyed by One Drive, asked to use a Microsoft account for everything, suddenly stuff like Notepad has Copilot integration, suddenly links open in Edge instead of your default browserand you’re confused that her bookmarks are gone etc. Apart from that, hacks to install Windows 11 on non-supported hardware might work fine today, but may break with every next update.
I moved my mum to Linux Mint one year ago and so far didn’t have issues or complaints. In fact she’s super happy with the Solitaire game as it does have way more play modes while not having any annoying advertisements. She’s using Firefox and LibreOffice which she already had on Windows before. It was less of a deal for her than a new Android major release on her phone.
But my mom is living much closer to me. In worst case I can fix any issue in person. Unlike these other relatives. There I need some kind of support access for trounleshooting.
I’m not denying windows 11 is a huge pile of crap. It’s absolutely terrible and not designed for the user. Totally agree with all that.
But there are no hacks required to install it on old hardware. You just have to do a fresh install. If you want to upgrade from 10 to 11 then I agree you need to edit the registry which you could consider a hack, although very basic.
In fact there are less hacks required to install / upgrade to windows 11 then there are to install any Linux distro.
Also your point about risk and non supported hardware is not correct. Microsoft don’t support any hardware. They provide an os and updates, and any device with a genuine copy of windows will receive all and any updates, and it won’t just randomly stop working. Windows is just an os. As long as it is compiled for the correct CPU architecture, it is just as supported as any other hardware. The hardware is supported by individual drivers, normally provided by the hardware manufacturer, not Microsoft.
All my point is don’t push the change on people, give them a fair and informed choice.
Not Teamviewer-ish but on Windows I’ve set up a simple batch file that launches a reverse VNC connection (using TightVNC) from the remote system to myself in the case someone needs me to look at something on their desktop. Nothing fancy about it, just something simple to get going if you don’t want or need anything more complex.
Haven’t done it on Linux yet but I suspect a bash script + a VNC app (TigerVNC maybe?) would be able to do the same thing.
Please, don’t expose VNC to the internet, ever. It’s a horrendously insecure protocol that uses plaintext passwords of no more than 8 characters and everything that passes over the connection is unencrypted and visible to anyone sniffing the traffic.
Once it was the only option, but there are dozens of better things out there now which should be used, even on a lan or vpn.
