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Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

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Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#231

Post by EnderMB »

chi3 wrote: post #63
maggit wrote: post #48

Yes, please do! I've spent some time researching this as well, and to me it seems like the author has missed one thing; the Mac touchpad hardware is so much better than other touchpad hardware. (As I understand it, the competition is barred from making similar touchpads due to patents) I have been running Linux on MacBook Pros for many years, and the touchpad is a constant source of disappointment. For the effort to…

Microsoft's Surface Book comes very close actually, so while the MBPs are still ahead, the gap is getting smaller!

I said this in a previous thread, but I'm surprised that Microsoft haven't jumped on the developer bandwagon after the MBP fallout.

I'd put the Surface Book as ahead of current gen MBP's. The trackpad isn't as good, but that's probably because it's a bit smaller and I like the large track pad. In terms of responsiveness, it's just as good.

The only thing missing is native Linux support, which is why a lot of people on here seem to support the WSL on Windows as an option over just installing Linux on the Surface Book. If Microsoft were to come out and say "Here's the new Surface Book, available in Windows 10 and Linux flavours" I could see a huge shift away from the MBP as the de-facto developer device.

Of course, given how fragmented Microsoft are as a company, I can't see their product team coming together to make this a reality, but a developer can dream.

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#232

Post by saltcured »

mkirklions wrote: post #112
opdahl wrote: post #2

If 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.

My 20+ year career has been programming for Linux. You won't find a mouse on my desk, because I bought Thinkpad USB keyboards. I have a full-size one with numeric keypad in my office at work, not because I use the keypad but because it makes the whole thing slightly more stable on my desk.

I don't really use the touchpad part though---I use the "track-point" pointing stick embedded in the center of the keyboard. Without that, I feel like I was transported back in time and placed in front of a VT220 terminal or some dusty old Sun workstation. I am concerned that these seem discontinued, but I also have spare travel-sized units which may last for the rest of my career...

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#233

Post by greenhatman »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #140

I'll volunteer 2 months full-time development for free, with a few conditions. - I'm looking for a job in New Zealand, Australia, or Canada. Not Seattle (sorry Bill). I'd stop job hunting to work on this, so someone else will have to find me a job. - I'd develop for the MacBook Pro 2014, because that's my hardware. Only one Linux distro (probably Ubuntu). - Weekly check-in emails (maybe twice a week). A plan set out…

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but do we need new Linux drivers for MacBook touch pads? Mine is working fine on my 2015 MackBook with Linux Mint. Am I missing something obvious?

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#234

Post by dwighttk »

tzahola wrote: post #187
peterburkimsher wrote: post #140

I'll volunteer 2 months full-time development for free, with a few conditions. - I'm looking for a job in New Zealand, Australia, or Canada. Not Seattle (sorry Bill). I'd stop job hunting to work on this, so someone else will have to find me a job. - I'd develop for the MacBook Pro 2014, because that's my hardware. Only one Linux distro (probably Ubuntu). - Weekly check-in emails (maybe twice a week). A plan set out…

Sorry for being off-topic, but I can't resist asking why on Earth would you want to port iTunes and AppleScript? Everyone I know (except the HN user actsasbuffoon) loathes iTunes, while AppleScript is just... silly, compared to other scripting languages.

I like iTunes as a music player. I've never seen another app that tempted me to make the effort to switch.

There are a few warts in its other tasks (which should be spun of into another app), but once I switched to iCloud syncing for my phone I stopped seeing those.

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#235

Post by nneonneo »

It would be great to know why the Linux drivers aren’t as good as the Mac touchpad drivers. I have little experience with Linux input drivers, but significant experience with the Android touch input stack (including a fair bit of experience hacking the Synaptics touchscreen drivers). Is it a matter of (1) the drivers themselves failing to provide good raw data (finger positions, update rate, positional accuracy, etc.)? (2) A matter of the drivers/userspace stack not decoding motions into useful gestures accurately? (3) Or a lack of support from normal applications or the window server for touch gestures and touch inputs?

In kernel space there’s definitely a lot we could crib from Android to get started quickly - since that’s the low-hanging fruit I wonder if anyone’s already done it. The userspace stuff is a totally different affair...

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#236

Post by rayiner »

peterburkimsher wrote: post #140

I'll volunteer 2 months full-time development for free, with a few conditions. - I'm looking for a job in New Zealand, Australia, or Canada. Not Seattle (sorry Bill). I'd stop job hunting to work on this, so someone else will have to find me a job. - I'd develop for the MacBook Pro 2014, because that's my hardware. Only one Linux distro (probably Ubuntu). - Weekly check-in emails (maybe twice a week). A plan set out…

I hate to be negative, but what makes you think you can do in two months what Microsoft has failed to do in several years (Microsoft's Precision Touchpad is still a ways away from a Mac touchpad).

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#237

Post by b3b0p »

isostatic wrote: post #3

Am I the only one who prefers the nipples on thinkpads?

No. I prefer the Thinkpad nipple and sad they added a touchpad as it just gets in the way. I wish it was a BTO option to have the nipple only or touchpad only, or both.

The nipple on every other manufacturer I have tried isn't even usable. The nipple on the Thinkpad is god like. I used to hear of designers prefer it for Photoshop editing back in the days before Lenovo.

That said, I am using a MacBook Pro now with macOS and have been for years because I tend to spend way too much time tinkering to get things perfect.

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#238

Post by hellofunk »

101km wrote: post #11

I 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…

> setup handled via a curl-to-bash of mine gets me exactly back to where I started, down to the sessions..

Wow. I'd love to know more about that.

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#239

Post by mkirklions »

na85 wrote: post #230
trash_panda wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this thread makes me wonder if I live in the same universe as HN. I'm amazed at the level of exquisiteness of the requirements of the HN crowd. I mean, I've been using computers all my life and used almost every Linux, Windows and OS X systems. I do get that Macbook touchpads are god-tier and unrivaled so far by other hardware manufacturers. That being said, I rather have my old Lenovo x220 with an external m…

Where do you work that you have room to use a mouse? Coffee shops, planes, trains, passenger seat in a car, literally on my lap in waiting rooms or transit terminals, etc. This is where I use my laptop, and I don't have room for a mouse in these places.

A desk

Re: Linux touchpad like a Macbook: goal worth pursuing?

#240

Post by grubles »

Tepix wrote: post #67
chi3 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft's Surface Book comes very close actually, so while the MBPs are still ahead, the gap is getting smaller!

The Dell XPS 13 touchpad hardware isn't too bad either. It should be bigger though.

I have a Dell XPS 15 and it's on par with any Apple product I've used and it does not have the Apple tax nor touch bar.
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