[kwlug-disc] laptops with Linux preinstalled

Tue Mar 2 21:37:38 EST 2021

Wow, this is pretty comprehensive coverage of this topic Doug! Nice! I am
pinning this for future reference.

I hear you on the Thinkpad trackpads, non-stop garbage since the T40 for me
back in 2003-ish, hence my move to the Trackpoint.
This Ebayer seems legit enuff for an X1 Trackpad --
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203087964892
Mebbe worth the money at 30-ish USD?

Back on the other topic of USB-C charging, I got a note from my tech guy
yesterday about this:
https://voltacharger.com/products/magnetic-adapter-2-0
He heard me whining about the USB-C issue and found this and since it looks
real nice, I have 10 kits coming to me whenever DHL gets it to me from
Australia. If they are are as good as Reddit folks claim, well, this
becomes a standard item included with any USB-C-charged item we do as long
as the PD requirements are 65W or less.

What do you think of this mag thing, Doug? Seems like a right smart add-on
for anything USB-C-Charged.

Thanks,

Ron S.

On Mon, Mar 1, 2021 at 5:42 PM Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:

> On Sat, Feb 27, 2021, at 1:36 PM, Ron Singh wrote:
>
> I detest trackpads and love the trackpoint except when I have to use a
> graphical app and a mouse comes into play there.
>
>
> I've been using a Macbook Air since 2010, and the trackpad is phenomenal.
> I want that kind of trackpad on my linux laptop, and I have no interest in
> using a trackpoint.
>
> Part of a good trackpad is the hardware, and part is the software. The
> mechanical aspects of the hardware make a big difference, so does the
> firmware inside the trackpad, and so does the driver installed in the OS.
> GUI toolkit and application support for touch gestures is also important.
> You need to get all of this right to get a good (Mac-like) experience.
>
> In my experience with Thinkpad 14/4xx models, the trackpad hardware is
> terrible, even under Windows. On Linux, the trackpad drivers are not
> consistently good (based on reports), but some trackpads behave way better
> than others. The Apple Magic Touchpad is said to behave very nicely under
> Linux. So, it's important to start with good hardware that has good
> firmware? And there hasn't been Linux driver support for the full range of
> touch gestures, so applications can't be programmed to support those
> gestures.
>
> But, I am replacing my Thinkpad trackpad with the P1 model. To quote
> reddit:
>
> https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/j0ulfk/glass_trackpad_in_t14/
>     I just installed a glass trackpad for the P1 / X1 into our T14. The
>     performance (accuracy, smoothness, etc.) so far is NIGHT AND DAY from
> the
>     stock T14 Gen 1 junk trackpad that our machines all have. The trackpad
>     works like it should now!
>
> As for the software, Bill Harding has been pursuing the goal of achieving
> a Linux trackpad experience as good as the Mac for several years now.
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2017/12/27/toward-a-linux-touchpad-as-smooth-as-macbook-pro/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2018/01/07/linux-with-a-macbook-touchpad-feel-pt-2/
> <https://bill.harding.blog/2018/01/07/linux-with-a-macbook-touchpad-feel-pt-2/>
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2018/04/12/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-goal-worth-pursuing/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2019/03/25/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-progress-and-a-call-for-help/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro-may-2020-update/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2020/05/17/linux-touchpad-preliminary-project-funding-survey-results/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2020/06/22/linux-touchpad-project-update-progress-on-multitouch/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2020/10/06/q3-linux-touchpad-like-macbook-update-multitouch-gesture-test-packages-are-ready/
>
> https://bill.harding.blog/2021/02/11/linux-touchpad-like-a-mac-update-firefox-gesture-support-goes-live/
>
> Bill's project is initially focused on providing the Mac & Windows
> multitouch gestures that are missing from Linux. At present, to get gesture
> support (eg, pinch-zoom and 3-finger swipe), I need to use Wayland (which
> uses libinput), plus Gnome. GTK applications have access to libinput
> gesture support, other GUI toolkits (like Qt) do not. Bill's project is
> working to get gesture support into X11, gui toolkits like Qt (used by
> KDE), and major applications.
>
> So I should try Wayland and Gnome. Peter Hutterer, the libinput dev who is
> working with Bill Harding, works for Red Hat. Maybe Fedora will have the
> best trackpad experience, once I install known good trackpad hardware?
>
> I would like to try implementing gestures in my 3D modelling software,
> Curv, so this would help me get there.
>
> Doug Moen.
>
>
> In Ubuntu/Mint 20.x, I found the trackpad/trackpoint to have poor
> acceleration control(as in none) even after playing around with the slider
> bars to adjust things. Laptop is my daughter's T560.
> The main dev with the Xfce project suggested I mess around with the data
> tables dealing with mouse movements, which is way past the ability of my
> monkey brain.
> Mint's website suggests that I rip out the <libinput> package and try the
> <synaptic> package and as a last resort, toss the both the <synaptic>
> package and the <libinput> package and try the <evdev> package. Eureka! My
> daughter loved me again. Problem solved.
>
> I use real old T420/T520/X220 as my dailies and had the same issue as
> above, the <evdev> package fixed it for me.
> This issue only happened in Ubu 20.04.0 and 20.04.1, not the 16.4.x
> editions. I have not done the 20.04.2 point release update yet.
>
> In Synaptic,
>
> remove -- xserver-xorg-input-libinput
> install -- xserver-xorg-input-evdev
>
> By remove, I mean "remove", *not* "complete removal".
>
> FWIW.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ron S.
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 9:32 AM Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 10:27 PM Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:
>
> The trackpad is bad. It's actually worse than the trackpad in my T450,
> which I didn't think possible.
>
>
> I am typing this from my Thinkpad T450, which I bought used (I think it
> was $150).
> I did disable the trackpad and use an external mouse. When in a pinch, I
> use the
> trackpoint, on the advice of Ron Singh on this list. But still it is
> cumbersome.
> --
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
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