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Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

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Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#21

Post by Ralz »

myko wrote: post #16
Ralz wrote: post #7

Am I the only one who prefers regular gchat to google hangouts? It's super difficult to figure out who on my contact list is online or not. I also mistake old msgs as new ones because of the lack of time-stamps. Maybe I'm missing a check-box or something that could fix all this but I gave up and switched back to gchat almost immediately.

I see timestamps under messages in both the web and Android client. I definitely prefer the look of Hangouts. I don't see much difference between it and GTalk utility-wise.

You're right I messed up, the time-stamps are there I just didn't notice them right away as they are faded and underneath the message.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#22

Post by zanny »

intrazoo wrote: post #9
codereflection wrote: post #3

And Google continues killing off niche application vendors... WalMart of the Internet.

I doubt this analogy is perfect. Location/upkeep/convenience are different in the software world, and one of the big problems with Walmart is that they underpay their workers. And whereas mass produced X and artisan X might be different, I don't see any advantage of artisan desktop sharing. Maybe there is something to soaking up a market (RSS) then dropping it (though it seems the ball is being somewhat picked up the…

If you want to carry on the analogy, Google has a debit card that only works at Google and unlike Walmart it won't accept competitors coupons and all the stuff sold in store isn't sold anywhere else. You also can't take it apart, and only people with Google debit cards can see any of it when it leaves the store.

Hangouts is becoming a nightmare of a proprietary locked in mess that is destroying decades of progress in FOSS space towards open standards for communication. They are killing Jingle and XMPP by depreciating Talk, and they are now killing VNC. They may not have played nice together, and they may be painfully outdated, but it isn't an excuse to take your toys from the community sandbox, go home, and build yourself a space rocket in your back yard and fence it off, because very few people will pay to get in your back yard and will stay in the sandbox with Tonka Trucks.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#23

Post by heyheyhey »

Ralz wrote: post #7

Am I the only one who prefers regular gchat to google hangouts? It's super difficult to figure out who on my contact list is online or not. I also mistake old msgs as new ones because of the lack of time-stamps. Maybe I'm missing a check-box or something that could fix all this but I gave up and switched back to gchat almost immediately.

Yes, I used gchat for its instant-messaging purposes, which is essentially what the app is all about. Hangouts pretty much got rid of anything instant about it (online/offline, away indicator, status messages, etc.). I eagerly looked forward to Hangouts and installed it the day Google announced it only to switch back to Talk an hour or two later.

I suppose I wouldn't care if I didn't have gchat on 100% of the time I'm on a desktop but I dread the day Hangouts replaces Talk.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#24

Post by mlinksva »

shmerl wrote: post #6

When are they going to publish their protocol, or return support for XMPP federation? Users should avoid them until they do either of those.

Maybe when users actually avoid them, which means users need an alternative, eg Jitsi which has had desktop sharing a couple years.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#25

Post by dman »

zanny wrote: post #17
ISL wrote: post #5

Can anyone comment on how a browser plugin gets access to the desktop? (even if hangouts doesn't do it, there's a remote desktop plugin) I'm a curmudgeon, but it seems like it's like designing a washing machine attachment that serves as a home security system and pasta maker. Are there OS or X11 permissions that can restrict userland apps from deviating far from their original use case?

Not X11, any app can see or manipulate any other apps screen buffer. It is one reason Wayland is nice. If your system has MAC you can restrict its file access, but in general you have library support for this stuff built in. It is also why in most cases it is a PITA to stream 3d rendered screens. Opengl / directX don't provide easy ways like X11 to look at a completed framebuffer and store / broadcast it.

In OpenGL this is fairly easy using FBO's - http://www.songho.ca/opengl/gl_fbo.html . I have never used DirectX but I would be surprised if it did not allow you to read the framebuffer.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#26

Post by nknighthb »

zanny wrote: post #22
intrazoo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt this analogy is perfect. Location/upkeep/convenience are different in the software world, and one of the big problems with Walmart is that they underpay their workers. And whereas mass produced X and artisan X might be different, I don't see any advantage of artisan desktop sharing. Maybe there is something to soaking up a market (RSS) then dropping it (though it seems the ball is being somewhat picked up the…

If you want to carry on the analogy, Google has a debit card that only works at Google and unlike Walmart it won't accept competitors coupons and all the stuff sold in store isn't sold anywhere else. You also can't take it apart, and only people with Google debit cards can see any of it when it leaves the store. Hangouts is becoming a nightmare of a proprietary locked in mess that is destroying decades of progress in…

> and they are now killing VNC

Um, no. This feature substitutes for one small VNC use case -- a use case already largely controlled by commercial products like TeamViewer and Copilot anyway.

VNC has much broader uses than this.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#27

Post by codereflection »

intrazoo wrote: post #9
codereflection wrote: post #3

And Google continues killing off niche application vendors... WalMart of the Internet.

I doubt this analogy is perfect. Location/upkeep/convenience are different in the software world, and one of the big problems with Walmart is that they underpay their workers. And whereas mass produced X and artisan X might be different, I don't see any advantage of artisan desktop sharing. Maybe there is something to soaking up a market (RSS) then dropping it (though it seems the ball is being somewhat picked up the…

I wasn't looking for a perfect analogy. Simply put that like WalMart killing off mom & pop shops, Google / Microsoft / Amazon are doing the same thing to niche application vendors who do one thing well to make a simple living.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#28

Post by codereflection »

zanny wrote: post #22
intrazoo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt this analogy is perfect. Location/upkeep/convenience are different in the software world, and one of the big problems with Walmart is that they underpay their workers. And whereas mass produced X and artisan X might be different, I don't see any advantage of artisan desktop sharing. Maybe there is something to soaking up a market (RSS) then dropping it (though it seems the ball is being somewhat picked up the…

If you want to carry on the analogy, Google has a debit card that only works at Google and unlike Walmart it won't accept competitors coupons and all the stuff sold in store isn't sold anywhere else. You also can't take it apart, and only people with Google debit cards can see any of it when it leaves the store. Hangouts is becoming a nightmare of a proprietary locked in mess that is destroying decades of progress in…

Good points.. however I don't thing they're killing off VNC. VNC, I believe, has a pretty narrow user base. Google's addition of remote desktop control will be doing more harm to small companies and their apps like FogCreek's Copilot.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#29

Post by drivebyacct2 »

rogerchucker wrote: post #18
Ralz wrote: post #7

Am I the only one who prefers regular gchat to google hangouts? It's super difficult to figure out who on my contact list is online or not. I also mistake old msgs as new ones because of the lack of time-stamps. Maybe I'm missing a check-box or something that could fix all this but I gave up and switched back to gchat almost immediately.

The worst thing about the new Google Hangouts is that it doesn't expose the phone numbers associated with some of the Google Contacts. So in order to make a phone call, I'd have to recall the number and type it in the search bar. Typing the name in the search bar won't reveal that person's phone number either. This is more intuitively done in the old Google Chat which has a phone button which reveals the numbers. So…

This is why I suspect they've drug their feet on Google Voice integration. They want to make that seamless. You want to call [Person] and you shouldn't have to even think about whether it's over Hangouts or PTSN.

That's what Google Voice will give them. You call them from the Hangouts app and they pass it through Google Voice if they're not signed into any Hangout machines. It roughly works this way already for existing GV users.

Re: Google Hangouts adds remote desktop support

#30

Post by drivebyacct2 »

Spearchucker wrote: post #8
kryten wrote: post #4

Now the NSA can watch your screen!

That's valid. Remote desktop opens up some interesting attack vectors, whether used by the NSA or just some hacker with malicious intent. There's nothing I can see about security mitigations...

"valid" aside from the fact that there's no way in this world or the next that all of that video and remote desktop traffic is going though Google's servers.
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