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I am a tutor in computer programming. As such I do lots of work via online conferencing, my most common way to work is to use Skype for audio and Mikogo for my students to provide me a way to see their screen and for me to click somewhere on it, so they can see where I have clicked. I very explicitly do not want to control anything that is happening on their machine, I wish for them to do all the work rather than me typing code on their machine.

A while ago Mikogo has stopped providing GNU/Linux installation, and I really do not like the idea of "just install it under wine or other emulation software". The point is to be able to have a solution that is the same for all operating systems.

The things that I absolutely require:

  • should work under GNU/Linux as a receiver of a session (I am on Xubuntu)
  • should be able to start a session on GNU/Linux, Windows, MacOS (unfortunately some people do use the latter two)
  • should be able to connect and see the screen without controlling the machine
  • should be able to give indication to a specific area of the screen when I click there

Other things like recording sessions, audio conferencing, file transfers, etc. are not required. However, I would prefer free software.

P.S. I have read Best VNC / remote desktop software for assistance But there the user specifically asks to control the other machine, which is exactly opposite of what I want.

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  • Have you investigated using regular VNC, I'm pretty certain that you could configure your cursor to show but not be allowed to control the server. Your students would need to run a VNC server. TightVNC has "view only" and "track remote cursor" in the client options. But I suspect the view only might override the cursor display. I think the server could disable your input ("block remote input events") but allow you to move the mouse though. Have you tried TeamViewer, IIRC that also has that combination; but you'd need to pay for your usecase I think.
    – pbhj
    Commented Aug 15, 2020 at 16:56
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    @pbhj That would mean that the first lesson is always spent on setting up a server, and the second on debugging everything. It would be one thing if it were I who had to set up the difficult part of it, but a completely different thing to place it on their shoulders.
    – v010dya
    Commented Aug 16, 2020 at 12:21
  • I think basically the idea of being able to control a cursor on someone else's sharef screen but not allow the control of any other aspect is just not in demand and so you'll have to do a bespoke system. It's a pretty strange demand, I'm curious where that restriction comes from.
    – pbhj
    Commented Sep 12, 2020 at 14:57
  • @pbhj I know, it would be a pretty strange demand, and i do not want anything of the sorts. The cursor should only be controlled by the person who is sitting at the machine.
    – v010dya
    Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 11:29
  • I'm confused now: "should be able to give indication to a specific area of the screen when I [the remote tutor] click there" is at odds with "The cursor should only be controlled by the person [local student] who is sitting at the machine"!?
    – pbhj
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 21:27

1 Answer 1

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According to ArchLinux AUR this software is still can be installed.

So you still can install using commands below:

sudo apt-get install libc6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxtst6:i386 libsm6:i386 libxrender1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386 libglib2.0-0:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386

cd ~/Downloads
wget http://download.mikogo4.com/mikogo.tar.gz
tar -xf mikogo.tar.gz

sudo mkdir -p -m 0755 /usr/local/bin
sudo install -m 0755 mikogo4.5/mikogo /usr/local/bin/
sudo install -m 0755 mikogo4.5/sessionplayer /usr/local/bin/

Note: I have tested the installation method above on Ubuntu MATE 20.04 LTS which ran using Xorg.

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  • They've actually completely removed the link from their sites, and it is only a matter of time for them to update their version, which will make it impossible to connect with a deprecated version. Take a look at their website, right now they don't even mention that there used to be GNU/Linux version. ArchLinux is simply wrong here.
    – v010dya
    Commented Aug 8, 2020 at 9:45
  • And the link that you have provided reads: "Updated. Note that the Linux client is no longer being developed or supported by Mikogo, and as I no longer work for the company that used it as a video conferencing tool, I haven't used this tool in several years. I have therefore decided to disown the package."
    – v010dya
    Commented Aug 8, 2020 at 9:46
  • I see . Edited. I provided a solution to install it. If you do not need it, then it is up to you.
    – N0rbert
    Commented Aug 8, 2020 at 14:41

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