After struggling with this for a long time I found out that there is a
"new" driver for input devices: libinput, that replaces synaptics. I
followed the install instructions as given here:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/649103/proper-touchpad-thumb-palm-
detection-with-libinput
In addition I had
Lack of good trackpad drivers that can fix this issue is affecting
thousands of Linux users and is preventing effective use of modern
laptops and ultrabooks.
The best I can do is to ask people to log in and confirm that this bug
is affecting them until somebody with the resources to fix this
