fixing distant computer via remote control

[Colin Law]

On 20 November 2011 19:38, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 20 November 2011 17:23, Bill Stanley <bstanle at wowway.com> wrote:
>> I am considering my options on fixing another computer via remote control.
>>  The computer I want to fix is in a different house in my neighborhood.  We
>> both use Ubuntu Linux version 10.10,(GNOME Desktop) so operating system
>> differences shouldn't be a problem. We both use the same ISP, but obviously
>> we do not share the same local network (different ISP accounts).
>>
>> I have been spending a lot of time going over to my neighbor to fix
>> relatively simple things.  Winter is coming and I really don't want to leave
>> my house for something that is relatively minor.  Some fixes take only a few
>> minutes.  My neighbor tries to describe the problem but a verbal description
>> is lacking.  What must be done so I can access my neighbors computer via my
>> computer.  I would like a GUI application so it would be like I was actually
>> there.
>
> What J D Lamb has suggested will indeed work, but it is moderately
> technical to achieve if you don't know your way around things like
> OpenSSH servers and router configuration.
>
> It's not FOSS, but TeamViewer is free for non-commercial use & I
> believe it will do what you need:
> http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx

+1 for teamviewer, it is ideal for this sort of situation and trivial
to setup (no port forwarding and so on).
To go the next step add ssh and that will let you have command line
control rather more conveniently than with TeamViewer.

Colin