Am I the only one who prefers the nipples on thinkpads?
I also did before I got used to the Macbook touchpad. Now the trackpoint is a last resort or if I'm just typing mostly.
Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
151–160 of 347 posts
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#152A cheap mouse allows finer and faster control than the best touchpad that currently exists, so... I plug in a mouse. (Don't believe me? Play an FPS game with touchpad against a mouse user.) That said, Synaptics touchpad support on Linux is bad. In my case, it's the touchpad on a Thinkpad T440s. It can run in a legacy/standard protocol mode or a "modern" protocol mode. Linux supposedly supports the latter (where palm…
Item 1: It's undeniable that the mouse is more precise, but it tethers you to a desk. One with enough space for a mouse. Not always feasible. Item 2: You're mentioning Thinkpads. Try a touchpad on OS X, then come back. The difference is enormous. You can actually use the GUI without a mouse and without being annoyed, it's the only laptop/OS combination where that works.
Every time I use my gf's Mac I am instantly annoyed by the touchpad. Yeah, it's better than the one on my Thinkpad but there I use the nipple which is faster, more precise and quicker to reach also I can scroll around using a button under my thump + nipple. Mac lacking page-up/page-down keys is annoying if you need to do a lot of scrolling/coming back to keyboard/scrolling.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#153Absolutely no. I never liked the macbook touchpad. I tried using it a couple times. It really felt like they had to shoehorn every action into a gesture to the point where a lot of them felt extremely cumbersome. For example it took me a few tries until I managed to tile windows.
I'm using a regular non-luxury laptop. I'm mostly using it with a mouse because the trackpad goes off every now and then( it's a hardware issue). But when it works it's fine. Cursor tracking is good with no artificial accel etc( meaning it goes exactly where I ask it to go), two finger scrolling works... The only complain is that pinch to zoom doesn't work and that the default button arrangement is a bit cumbersome.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#154Is the touchpad driver in the macOS kernel? If yes, the kernel itself is open source, would it be crazy to try to extract the driver from there and make it Linux compatible? Other question: When are you actually using the touchpad? I use my notebook 99% of the time with a screen + keyboard/mouse. Next question: Can we get to the level of a Macbook touchpad only with software? Is there no magic sauce inside the hardwa…
AFAIK macbook's keyboard and touchpad has a dedicated chip to handle user interactions and is possibly part of the firmware. This explains why it works on Apple EFI level and it works smoothly even on high CPU load.
I salvaged a 2010-model MacBook Pro trackpad, soldered on some USB wires, and made it external. I was actually more interested in the keyboard, but discovered that I needed both because the USB controller is on the trackpad.
https://hawkwood.com/archives/743
Here's a closeup of the chips:
https://hawkwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/IMG_3578.JPG
CY8C24794: Converts SPI to USB. [1]
SST 25WF020: 2 MBit serial flash memory. [2]
BCM5974: Multi-touch controller. [2]
TI CD3238: Driving IC. [3]
[1] https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/333175-macbook-pros-...
[2] https://appleinsider.com/articles/10/07/29/teardown_of_apple...
[3] https://www.semisrael.com/blogs/technology/ti-touch-screen-c...
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have no idea how not to use it. Right index finger (I'm right handed) moves it round, right thumb presses the keys. That's completely immaterial to the precision of it, which is why I'm unable to use it: I never managed to aim at something, I take ages to actually reach a button to click on it (either under- or over-shooting it unless I move the cursor extremely slowly) let alone select some characters in the mid…
Odd. I find the trackpoint more precise than any touchpad, Macs included. I've owned Macbooks for years yet am instantly happier, and faster, on the keyboard and trackpoint of the wife's T series. I'd pay significantly more over already inflated Apple prices to have my MBP with a trackpoint and no touchpad.
Yeah odd it's as if different people have different sensibilities and my experience with trackpoints has no influence on yours and the other way around. How surprising.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#156I have been using 12" MacBooks since they came out because I live out of a backpack and travel a lot. I cannot find anything comparable in terms of size/weight/battery and build quality. Especially the trackpad, nothing is remotely close. Otherwise I'd get that and put Arch on it. People complain Apple is expensive, not so sure. The TCO may actually be less because of the high resale value. It is also more convenient…
Can you tell me more about "curl-to-bash"? Setting up my mac can be a matter of days and I hate it.
I just rsync my home directory and re-run the nix installer.
Setting up my mac is a matter of letting things run overnight mostly (the rsync primarily).
Then chsh to zsh and log in/out and bam, back in business. I put all my apps in ~/Applications as well or as often as I can. I think screen flow is the only app that I need to install, but that is a bit of a one off and not often used so no big deal.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#157Absolutely no. I never liked the macbook touchpad. I tried using it a couple times. It really felt like they had to shoehorn every action into a gesture to the point where a lot of them felt extremely cumbersome. For example it took me a few tries until I managed to tile windows. I'm using a regular non-luxury laptop. I'm mostly using it with a mouse because the trackpad goes off every now and then( it's a hardware i…
I think you're definitely a special case. For me the MacBook touchpad is my favorite input method, better than even a mouse -- because it's very precise, and the gestures are very handy!
Generally, most people are very fond of mac touchpads.
So, I'd say from a linux strategic perspective, or the perspectie of the greater good, the answer is yes!
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#158I would absolutely fund and support this project. It should be done. Personally I am fine with my touchpad experience right now on arch but it can be improved and it should be. These are the offerings we need to make linux more mainstream.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't it be easier to just wipe the drive before TSA?
Really depends on their comfort/paranoia level. If the device is taken out of their sight for more than a few minutes, they'd be highly suspicious. More so if you are crossing borders of countries known to be hostile.
This isn't about fancy "infosec" threats, this is about TSA breaking or stealing your laptop, or alternatively ordering you to unlock it or they won't let you (a non-American) into the country.
Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?
#160If someone could actually make this, I would gladly pay an annual subscription to access it. Almost the only reason I'm still buying MacBooks is because of the touchpad, and if I could get that on Linux I probably would just switch to a normal PC.
Who is on this website? I thought these were mostly programmers, but I cannot picture a programmer using a touchpad instead of a mouse.
The downvotes are really telling...
For most use cases pointing devices makes you less productive than using a keyboard. Going forth and back between keyboard and a pointing device is even worse.
Spend the time to optimize your workflow to be pointer-free as much as you can and you'll never go back.