TIL about Linux multi-seat

A couple days ago I stumbled on this older video about allowing two people to use the same computer, independently and at the same time, without virtualization. This is done through Linux mutli-seat, which allows two users to share a PC and then assign peripherals and even a GPU to each seat. This concept hooked me immediately.

What got me as that it is not using virtualization. Although super cool, running multiple VMs and then doing passthrough to the VMs is a real pain in the ass. What I learned from this video is that multi-seat is simpler than I thought it would be and much easier than doing things like PCI passthrough to VMs. It also got me thinking about some projects I could do that utilizes this tech. I am always looking for projects, even if it is just for fun and ends up going nowhere.

Now, I think the original usecase for multi-seat is business applications. You could have a single PC that has 2-4 people all working from the same device in close proximity to each other. This has become less useful as PC hardware has become cheaper, most workers need a laptop to take with them to meetings, co-programming sessions, work from home, etc.

However, the idea is still neat.

The family computer

About a year ago I started looking at setting up computers for my two youngest. They have desks that are side-by-side and use them for school and gaming. When I was planning what they would need and what we could afford, I remembered the concept of a family computer.

You see kids, back in my day we didn’t have multiple computers in the house. There were no smartphones and laptops were astronomical. When we finally got a computer, we had a sinlge PC and it was for the whole family. In fact, nearly everyone had the family computer instead of multiple devices. This was various reasons. One, computers were expensive. Two, having one was a new experience. People couldn’t imagine what they would do on a computer, let alone need multiple computers because more than one person would want to use it at the same time. Three, there was no wifi. The dial-up internet had to be near enough to a phone jack. Last, parents were leary to allow children to use a computer without supervision. The computer needed to be in a central location that could be monitored.

What got me thinking about having a family computer again was the cost. Rather than having multiple low to mid computers, we might be able to have one high end device. Something with great specs and play a lot of games. Then only have a single machine to manage and to upgrade when necessary.

But, in our current world, it would be difficult to manage everyone fighting over being able to use the same computer. So, I shelved the idea.

Multi-seat ideas

The family computer was exactly why I’ve been so fascinated with a multi-seat configuration. Using multi-seat, we could have a single powerful PC and then connect multiple monitors and peripherals to it and allow people to share access. We might still only have one game going at a time. But, someone could be shopping, paying bills, or archiving a ridiculous amount of YouTube videos while the other person dominates in WWE 2k25. At any point, I could add a second GPU and then two people could even game at the same tim.

I think about my desktop in this scenario. Yes, it is older. But it has 16 cores and 64GB of RAM. I almost never max any of this out and the potential sits unused. Realistically it is too much computer for my needs. Now I know it is possible to split it up!

Here are some of the ideas I’ve had for using multi-seat:

• Build the family PC and allow two people to use it at the same time at a co-working desk.
• Replace the gorls dual PCs into a single for their school. Instead of being gaming, this is their computer for school that I can configure exactly the way I want and keep updated specifically for school. No distractions and only one PC needed.
• Dual purpose homelab and desktop. Instead of running a homelab on one machine and still having a desktop, I can merge into a single device. Then I could allocate specific resources to the homelab and then login as a different user/seat for desktop use. This would reduce clutter and allow a more powerful machine for my homelab while setting up proper security and permissions for each user.
• I’ve always wanted an L-shaped desk with two independent computers at it. One main, one on the other side of the L-desk for doing various projects. Using multi-seat, it is the same PC with different users, apps, configs, etc.

Closing

I get it, a lot of these ideas can be done with virtual machines, containers, thin clients, etc.

But, multi-seat sounds like so much more fun.

Who cares if it actually ends up working. I get to learn more about Linux, play with my computers, and have some fun while doing it.

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