From Hamachi in 2004 to Tailscale 20 years later

Back in 2004, Alex Pankratov launched Hamachi, a new and fresh approach to VPN. It was so easy to use, compared to classic VPN. I really enjoyed using it, trying to maintain access to different systems at home, work, parents, …

Hamachi, by Alex Pankratov

After moving to a single, portable, computer I did no longer have the need for a solution like Hamachi. And LogMeIn’s acquisition of the company made it feel more corporate, less indie. I lost track of it.

Today, I’m in a similar spot for a project, and slowly these memories came back. Instead of Hamachi, I now use Tailscale, who seem to have a good (free) offering for personal and small usage.

PS: funny how small this world is, cause only yesterday I was looking at nullboard, another project by Alex Pankratov, that was on the frontpage of the orange website. I had no idea this was by the same developer!