Bill Harding

For those who would like to follow this project as it unfolds, we intend to work from https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wbharding/libinput I'll also setup an easy means subscribe to text updates about this project soon. Check https://bill.harding.blog for updates on that.

With Linux, worth following (or funding!) this work (HN passim): https://bill.harding.blog/2021/06/06/linux-touchpad-like-macbook-updat…

> Unfortunately, while the keyboard is great, I can’t say the same about the touchpad. I'm sure he has read https://bill.harding.blog/2018/01/07/linux-with-a-macbook-touchpad-fee… although he provides a link to the newest approach by Bill to restructure some of the drivers... I think the 2018 config is already a big improvement. > an annoyingly loud fan that spins up too frequently https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc enables you to control your notebook fan. You can also create your own XML config.

Relevant to this conversation is Bill Harding's project to fund a better touchpad driver [1] [2]. It's well worth reading his blog posts and seeing his related GitHub project. Definitely worth understanding his understand motivations, then considering collaborating and/or funding him. [1] https://bill.harding.blog/2018/04/12/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-goa… [2] https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro…

Isn't there a 1-2 year old project that claims to have made great trackpad driver behavior in Linux? I think this is the case I remember: https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro…

The T450 touchpad is compatible with the T440s and has real buttons. Should be a few bucks on ebay. See my question in this thread. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316263 ps, Love my T440s also. I would like two-finger horiz scroll to work better however, especially the swipe for "back" gesture. Somewhere a few months back was a comment about the XInput team comprising one overloaded guy needing help. I mess with stuff like "synclient HorizScrollDelta" but it really needs acceleration detection to trigger the gesture, not scroll. pps: it's libinput: https://bill.harding.blog/2020/06/22/linux-touchpad-project-update-pro…

I still roll an old Macbook Air for my primary computer. It really sucks under Catalina. I used to run two browsers, one for work and one for personal. Now I just run the work one. I often find myself evicting things from RAM so I can get my job done. Nerfing the ram slots was the first unforgivable sin. Don't get me started on usb-c and the thrice damned touchbar. At least they gave us the escape key back. I'm tempted to upgrade, but this article is not helping. Maybe I'll get an Air with 16gb and call it good. My favorite recent machine purchase was a Chromebook Pixel i7 with 16GB of ram. The only problems are the locked rom and the nerfed storage. Both of which I've worked around. It's my primary pen-test machine and the most capable machine in my fleet. If only the Linux trackpad drivers were better. (fingers crossed https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro… If I could buy a machine like the Chromebook (that I was allowed to install linux on) I'd drop Apple in a heartbeat.

How can I test the improvements? Wayland, XServer, Firefox, Gtk and QT patches were merged in 2021 already: https://bill.harding.blog/2021/06/06/linux-touchpad-like-macbook-updat… But while running a current Debian unstable with Mate desktop, I don't know in which applications I could test the gestures, neither do I know which gestures are supported

There's also this dude who has spent 2 years trying to get a mac touchpad experience on linux https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro… https://bill.harding.blog/2019/03/25/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro…

I respect this but the X1 Carbon's keyboard is bad, and so is its trackpad. Until something like this[0] project takes off, this is just a non-starter for me. Windows at least has OK trackpad support, and now with WSL and whatnot, the surface pro laptops are maybe a feasible option, but Windows ironically has the absolute worst window management of the 3. And of course Apple is still a moving target. I'm not going back to a x86 toaster of a laptop with 5 hrs of battery life, when i can have one which stays cool for 11. Signs point to them ditching the touchbar too. [0] https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro… [1] Disclosures / context: - I have an X1 carbon for work - I vastly prefer my M1 Macbook Pro - I miss i3wm, i used to run it on laptop and desktop in college, on Arch.

Looks like there’s some good progress for touchpad support on Linux: https://bill.harding.blog/2021/02/11/linux-touchpad-like-a-mac-update-… https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26102894 Many millions of people will benefit, but the project only has 129 supporters, if anyone wants to chip in!

There is a fellow from here working on getting it right in Linux. Apparently they’ve looked into it and it seemed like the obstacles aren’t insurmountable, but the developers want to be paid. https://bill.harding.blog/2020/04/26/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-pro…

Whoops, I forgot the link to the results of the poll: [1]: https://bill.harding.blog/2020/06/22/linux-touchpad-project-update-pro…

There's work to make the touchpad better https://bill.harding.blog/2020/06/22/linux-touchpad-project-update-pro…

Related: The "linux touchpad like a macbook" discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23235609 https://bill.harding.blog/2020/05/17/linux-touchpad-preliminary-projec… https://github.com/sponsors/gitclear

I believe Bill Harding is working on improving Linux trackpad drivers (or trying to find people who can) https://bill.harding.blog/linux-touchpad-like-a-macbook-progress-and-a…

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