On Mon, Oct 19, 2026 at 12:09 PM Armin Jenewein <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hey. Sorry to hear that, Kevin. > > As you're probably on Xorg (read "not Wayland") you most likely don't > have pixel-precise scrolling anyways, and there are many cheap no-name > trackpads available (30-40$ mark) that you can use - just keep in mind > that if you ever plan to use such one on a Mac, the scrolling will be > "edgy", just like it will on your OpenBSD machine with such a thing. > > Multi-touch is another problem, it somewhat works on Xorg, but it's not > exactly fantastic and a bit of a "yea need to get used to how this > works" feel. > > What I can personally recommend is just like Stefan already mentioned > something to put your arm on. > > If your keyboard has a numpad block (that 0-9 thing on the right side), > then you could also use "pointerkeys" to control your cursor, but that's > again not really "comfort". > > What I would ultimately look into are trackballs, but keep in mind these > things are expensive, so not good if you just want to test if one would > work for you. > > All in all not really cool, and the closest I've seen so far that would > match most of your requirements was KDE Plasma on Wayland (still no > 3-finger drag to move a window, and some other tiny quirks that still > exist at driver-level), but I doubt that will work nicely on OpenBSD, at > least right now (FreeBSD might be a better option here, until the > situation on OpenBSD gets better :-/ ). > > ~ Armin > > > > On 19.10.26 06:21, Kevin Williams wrote: > > I have used openbsd on the desktop for years and really enjoyed it. > > > > Recently I injured fingers in both of my hands away from the computer. > Then at the computer I did a lot more repetitive clicking than normal for > several days. I noticed pain in the end joint of my right index finger > especially, which I have used to click the main mouse button. > > > > I have seen my doctor about it and am taking several days away from the > computer to heal and recover. My recovery is going better than expected. > But I want to be cautious and have options so that I don't reinjure myself. > > > > Do any of you have experience with an external touchpad that works well > with openbsd? Particularly with tap to click and multi-touch for scrolling > or even dragging without having to do a click? > > > > I would like to get two of them and have one on each side of my keyboard > so that I can alternate which finger and which hand I use to give them a > rest. > > > > What is something that has worked well for any of you? > I had lots of issues with my hands (from typing) from my 16 to my 29 years. I even stopped using my right hand around 2 years (using dvorak left handed). Symptoms went away when I started doing physical conditioning (kalistenics) when studying theatre school, and remained away when I started doing hand tool woodworking, sawing, chiseling, etc. I also recommend the nice book It's not carpal tunnel syndrome from Suparna Damany.
