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Question: Considering getting a trackball - how well supported?

I'm thinking of getting a trackball. How well are these supported in Linux? I like the idea of the Kensington SlimBlade where both the cursor position AND scrolling are controlled from the single ball (move cursor by rolling forward/back/left/right or twist to scroll). Is that going to be available under Linux? Are all the buttons going to be configurable to work?

If not, what is a well supported trackball that I should consider? USB wired or wireless, or PS/2. No bluetooth available on my computer.

I've used a trackball mouse that you operate the ball with your thumb, with absolutely no problems.

Although I'm right handed, I have used a trackball for decades with my left hand. I've never had an issue using it like a standard mouse. Used to use a serial and then moved to ps/2 and now about the only thing you can get is a usb. I've only used logitech at home but at work they get whatever is on sale.
The trackman I think may have a way to adapt to a ps/2. Every once in a while that whole deal has some issues. Very rare I'd think. Some issue with ps/2 uart I'd think in board.

I suppose there are some features that windows users may have but I only use them like a mouse.

haertig,

I have used Kensington models on Linux computers belonging to other people. All worked perfectly.

This one appears to fit the bill according to the feedback (not mine) below:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...k_ql_qh_dp_hza

Quote:

I have been using various models of the Kensington Trackball Expert Mouse (including the most recent model) on Linux for over ten years and they have always worked straight out of the box, no configuration needed. Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, the Linux distro has not mattered, no problem with any of them. Today (2017-03-17) I received my first Kensington WIRELESS Trackball Expert Mouse and connected it to my Linux Mint desktop PC using the USB dongle, as expected it worked perfectly straight out of the box. My PC has no Bluetooth so I am unable to test that. The trackball models mentioned all have 4 buttons and a scroll wheel, by default on Linux they do the following: Bottom left button, left click; Bottom right button, right click; Top left button, middle click; Top right button, web browser go-back event; Scroll wheel, scrolls up/down and with shift key held down scrolls left/right. Kensington provide no software to reconfigure trackball buttons on Linux but xinput can be used to remap / or configure the buttons to do pretty much anything you fancy (far more powerful than the Kensington software which I used years ago on Windows XP), although using xinput is probably only suitable for advanced Linux users. Hope this helps somebody.

Wireless version:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...qh_dp_hza?th=1

I bought myself one of the Logitech M570 "track mice". I guess that's what you call them. I always considered trackballs to have a large ball on the top. This one I decided to try is more like a regular mouse in appearance, but it has a ball over on the side that you manipulate with your thumb.

My thumb is driving the cursor like a drunken sailor right now, but I assume I'll get used to it after a few days. I think I'm going to like this thing, but I really won't know until I give myself a few days to get used to it. Large sweeping cursor movements seem easy, but the very fine stuff where I'm trying to hit a small target, well, I need more practice with that. You definitely need a rest to support your wrist with this type of pointing device. At least I do. Luckily I had one in my spare parts box in the basement.

Seems to work fine under Linux. I decided on the "track mouse" style simply because of the price. Something like $22 on Amazon. Figured I couldn't go too wrong testing one out at this price.

Thanks for the update.

Personally I like the spin way to move across the screen.