EasyMDMultiseat

Leer en español

A GTK 4 / libadwaita app (plus a console menu) for Linux with systemd that manages logind multi-seat: assign keyboards, mice, GPUs and other devices to any seatN, save the layouts as presets, and switch between your normal display manager and a multi-seat capable one.

Why this project exists

Searching online for multi-seat on Linux, the usual answer is "use loginctl", but nobody explains that GNOME's GDM (the default on Ubuntu) does not support it, and there was no easy, visual way to do it. This tool exists to fill that gap: it detects what your system is missing, tells you what to install, and lets you assign devices with a few clicks.

Why you may need another display manager

GDM (the default in GNOME, e.g. Ubuntu) cannot run several seats at once. LightDM and SDDM can. When none of them is installed, the app tells you so and shows the install command for your distribution, for example:

sudo apt install lightdm      # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf install lightdm      # Fedora
sudo pacman -S lightdm        # Arch
sudo zypper install lightdm   # openSUSE

The app never installs packages by itself.

Requirements

• Linux with systemd (loginctl, systemctl) and polkit (pkexec)
• Python 3
• For the GUI: PyGObject, GTK 4 and libadwaita 1 (python3-gi, gir1.2-gtk-4.0, gir1.2-adw-1 on Debian/Ubuntu)
• A multi-seat capable display manager (LightDM or SDDM)
• Real extra hardware: at least a second keyboard and mouse, and normally a second GPU (or a video adapter) for the extra seat

Usage

./multiseat_manager.py          # GUI if a graphical session is available, else console
./multiseat_manager.py --gui
./multiseat_manager.py --cli
./multiseat_manager.py --lang es
./install.sh                    # add a launcher to your applications menu
./install.sh --system           # system-wide
./install.sh --uninstall

The interface is available in English and Spanish. To add a language see tools/i18n.py: copy locale/multiseat-manager.pot to locale/<lang>.po, translate, then run python3 tools/i18n.py all.

What it changes on your system

Read this before using it:

• Attaching a device writes udev rules in /etc/udev/rules.d/ (via loginctl attach).
• Enabling multi-seat enables the multi-seat display manager and disables the others. It takes effect after a reboot.
• Restoring normal mode runs loginctl flush-devices (removes those udev rules), re-enables your normal display manager and disables the multi-seat one.
• Each privileged operation asks for authentication once through polkit.

Settings and presets live in ~/.config/multiseat-manager/ (system presets in /etc/multiseat_presets.json).

Troubleshooting

If the system does not reach a login screen after a change:

1. Switch to a text console (Ctrl+Alt+F3) and log in.
2. Return to your previous display manager, e.g. sudo systemctl disable lightdm && sudo systemctl enable gdm3.
3. Remove the seat rules: sudo loginctl flush-devices, then reboot.

Project layout

See ARCHITECTURE.md and the decision records in ADR/ (written in Spanish).

Status

Tested on Ubuntu with GDM → LightDM. Other display managers and distributions are untested; reports and pull requests are welcome.

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. Copyright (C) 2026 Adrian Ramos. See LICENSE.