this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
46 points (85.9% liked)

Linux

13040 readers
81 users here now

Welcome to c/linux!

Welcome to our thriving Linux community! Whether you're a seasoned Linux enthusiast or just starting your journey, we're excited to have you here. Explore, learn, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for open-source software and the endless possibilities it offers. Together, let's dive into the world of Linux and embrace the power of freedom, customization, and innovation. Enjoy your stay and feel free to join the vibrant discussions that await you!

Rules:

  1. Stay on topic: Posts and discussions should be related to Linux, open source software, and related technologies.

  2. Be respectful: Treat fellow community members with respect and courtesy.

  3. Quality over quantity: Share informative and thought-provoking content.

  4. No spam or self-promotion: Avoid excessive self-promotion or spamming.

  5. No NSFW adult content

  6. Follow general lemmy guidelines.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I wonder if this is more common among Linux users. If an application has good keyboard support, I'm ALL over that instead of using a mouse. That's one reason web applications really annoy me, they usually have terrible keyboard support, or the browser shortcuts interfere.

Maybe detest is too strong a word. More like I prefer to avoid it if at all possible (unless it's something like CAD or most gaming where the mouse is basically essential)

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes I do. Nvim / dwm life.

Still gotta have it for web browsing though. Vimium is kinda stupid and qutebrowser never worked quite like I expected, like most minimal browsers or extensions unfortunately.

All you laptop folks are like aliens to me lol. I have one, but it's rarely used unless I have to leave my lair.

[–] lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I use a keyboard with an inbuilt trackpoint. I never have to move my hands off the keyboard to use the mouse, it's really amazing.

The worst input method is definitely a touchscreen, directly followed by Apple's magic mouse and touchpads.

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I use a keyboard with an inbuilt trackpoint.

What are you using? "Tex" mechanical board, old Model M with trackpoint, one of those standalone Thinkpad keyboards?

A Thinkpad Compact Keyboard II. It's really nice to type on. Only the stock feet are trash and break easily, but there are a lot of people 3D-printing more durable replacements.

[–] guynamedzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

God damn, the Magic Mouse is the worst fucking idea ever, it’s like combining a touchpad with a mouse in the worst way possible. When I was a kid, our family computer only had a Magic Mouse and I can’t count the number of times I made a misinput, scrolled too far, or had to stop using the computer until the mouse could charge

[–] lime@feddit.nu 3 points 2 days ago

i loved the magic mouse. macos is so gesture-driven that having gesture control on a normal mouse felt like having a macro pad.

[–] lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Absolutely! I was forced to work on a Mac with a Magic mouse at my first job. There was no place for my fingers to rest comfortably. I had to hover them above the mouse or otherwise the thing would always detect inputs I didn't want.

Combined with its minimal height, it gave me quite a lot of pain. I don't know how people can work with this atrocity.

The charging is a meme at this point, it's really absurd. Thank god I don't work for a boss who's an Apple cultist anymore.

[–] guynamedzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago

I even tried to use the mouse while it was charging by hanging half of it off the desk but apparently they made it just turn off while charging

[–] SunSunFuego@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

i use my linux desktop for gaming so i really rely on the mouse.

but i exclusively use the nipple on my thinkpad to the point i can't use a regular trackpad anymore.

touchscreens are the worst.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Mouse gives me back pain. So yes, I really despise it.

I even prefer to play with a gamepad on PC when it's possible because it feels more ergonomic for my muscles.

[–] guynamedzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago

When games are designed for it, controllers are almost always better imo, save for when you’re trying to aim, I very much dislike thumb sticks for aiming

[–] DrDystopia@lemy.lol 18 points 4 days ago

No, I'm a GUI user and the cursor will usually be more efficient for most types of tasks. Though paring it with keyboard commands usually increase the productivity significantly.

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Soooo, you don't like using a mouse except when using a mouse is easier.

rgr that

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

No, only when it requires it (point and shoot, point and draw). But a lot of things id much rather use a keyboard to navigate and its frustrating when there is no support for it

[–] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 0 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

And yeah, you're going to be left behind in a lot of applications because most people prefer the point and click interface to KB shortcuts. It is what it is, I guess. Can't you just use emacs as your environment though? (I use vi, so it's alien to me)

edit: lol, guess not

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I don't prefer one over the other, I just hate switching when I'm in a flow state.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

The act of re-centering the hand on the mouse or the keyboard is costly in UI, even if we barely notice it. It can break Flow for sure.

[–] HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Kensington TB550 thumb trackball for any pointy/clicky stuff, keyboard otherwise.

I don't like a real mouse, and haven't for decades.

I got my first thumb trackball in the 1990s when I didn't have a big enough desk to use a mouse. It was a Logitech Trackman Marble.

Then I got a Marble Wheel. Then the cordless one, then the M570 that replaced it.

But Logitech build quality has really went into the shitter, and after a warranty replacement, and then having to buy another replacement, I tried a couple of different thumb trackballs before settling on my Kensington one.

The ProtoArc EM01 I have is also nice, but I like the feel of the Kensington better.

[–] vala@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 3 days ago

I use vim btw

[–] banazir@lemmy.ml 10 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Oh hell naw, I love to sit back, one hand resting on an arm rest, and just navigating with my mouse. Not that I mind using the keyboard, but I have a strong affinity to the mouse. I know the keyboard is "more efficient", but I'm just more comfortable pointing at things.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I've never had a job where the bottleneck was the speed of translating my thoughts into commands. It's almost always the thinking that slows me down. I'm sort of jealous of folks who deal with so few unknowns that they are limited only by speed of input (though I'd find that a mind-numbingly boring job — compared to my usual constant imposter syndrome and suspicion that there is a better way to do something than what is in my head right now).

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago

I worked on an old CAD program in the early 90s, it had hotkeys for the menu structure. After some time ( and memorization) they became much faster than mouse clicks. When getting designs out as fast as possible, to keep the shop busy, was the mandate it led to designers flying across the keys building geometry, trimming, dimensioning etc. After about 4 years though RSI became a problem for all of use.

[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

I use mouse primarily. Though on a laptop, if I don't have a mouse, I would much prefer a little red clit-mouse and as much keyboard shortcuts as I can over having to use a touch pad...

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have a preference towards keyboard shortcuts, but I dont think I'm in any way anti-mouse, I'm just very pro-keyboard. If there is a quick easy keyboard shortcut, I'll almost always use it.

Honestly, back in the windows 8 days, I never understood the backlash about the start screen/menu. My workflow was "hit windows key, type name of app. hit enter" and that workflow didnt change with the full screen mobile centric menu, so it never felt problematic to me. Plenty of other problematic things about microsoft and windows, but "But the start menu is full screen!" wasnt one of them for me.

[–] DrDystopia@lemy.lol 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Windows key? You kids have it so easy, back in my day we had to CTRL+Esc because the Windows key wasn't invented yet. Luckily nowadays my linux computers all come with a Super key that can be used as a stand-in for the Windows button.

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

In my day, the start button hasn't been invented yet, so Ctrl esc didn't help much. But by the time windows 8 came around, I was using that specific shortcut. I use alt+space now to invoke my launcher, because in i3wm/swaywn using super for shortcuts meant that using super for the launcher felt a bit conflicting

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes. It was fine when it was used to enhance 100% keyboard operable interfaces (outside of 2d spacial interfaces like drawing) but when it became dominant and keyboard controls stopped being universal, something important was lost.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

My last company had two primary software products. The one customers always opted for was the green-screen version, like something out of 1989 with an AS400 backend. Funny thing is, the backend was IBM's latest version of the 400. :)

Had a couple of customer service and tech support jobs in the 90s using such systems. Once you get the hang of the menu tree, you can haul ass through tasks. When our customers would go for the GUI product, they'd immediately revert back to the green screen.

The thing I don't like to do is move my hand from keyboard to mouse a lot.

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 days ago

I had a phase in my teenage years when I tried to do as much as I could with the keyboard. Nowadays I use too many different pieces of software for me to be able to remember all key combinations everywhere, so I've grown out of that.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

This is one of those things were I wish I did more. I remember wishing for gui funtionality on more command line software. Unfortunately I have been using guis so long now im stuck in mindset. I wish I could get rid of interfaces and have it be brain but in a utopian way not the way it looks like it will play out.

[–] hendrik@palaver.p3x.de 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I liked the nipple mouse on my old Thinkpad, pretty much no effort to do a few things with the mouse in between, and the fingers are still on the keyboard.

[–] HouseWolf@pawb.social 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'd wanna know what percentage of mouse haters are on laptops w/o an external mouse instead of desktop setups.

I'll die on the hill that mouse + Good Guis are gonna be easier and faster for most tasks.

But laptop trackpads just still kinda suck, I'd probably go for as keyboard centric of a interface as possible if I was forced to use a laptop without an external mouse.

Also just gonna call it. People like the "Hacker aesthetic" and that's fine. I care more that people use their PC how they want to.

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world -1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Two-finger scroll won me over to the trackpad and I never looked back. A mouse is an annoying complication IMO - and on the way out along with desktop computers, despite what the out-of-touch geeks in this forum wishfully think. Might as well get ahead of the game.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago

I use both comfortably depending on the task.

git checkout dev & git pull is very easy to type.

git checkout dev-CHG03451-make_sky_turquoise is going to be way easier to mouse in my ide, but then I'll switch right back to git merge dev :wq

Linux is also my main driver, so all my (desktop) web browsing and interaction are done with a mouse. It doesn't make sense to be all that worried about keyboard-maxing.

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Mouse? What is this thing you talk of?

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Seriously depends on the application. Having to use a mouse to navigate three menu levels down for a function that could be done with a keyboard shortcut is a point where a mouse is the wrong tool. But try to get something done in a graohics program with keys only.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Preferring to avoid the mouse is a pretty common attitude among Linux users, just because keeping your hands on the keyboard is quicker.

[–] hallettj@leminal.space 4 points 4 days ago

I find that Vimium makes web stuff pretty keyboard usable. There are gaps, like it often doesn't work well with non-native drop-downs. Unfortunately Vimium does override web app shortcuts, so when you find an app that does have good shortcuts you have to register a rule to disable Vimium for that site.

[–] MasterBlaster@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Personally, I have challenges remembering key combinations and thus only use a few. Often, the timevitvtakes to retrieve the right keyboard equivalent takes longer than using the mouse, and often I have to use the mouse to lookup the key combo.

I need to be using a particular tool very frequently to muscle memory the key codes.

[–] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago

Not really no?
On the contrary, I use the Gesturefy extension on Firefox because for some reason I find drawing a squiggle to duplicate a tab easier to remember than whatever the keyboard shortcut is

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Huh. I was expecting the comments here to be an echo chamber

I don't like the mouse, personally. I never have the patience to point it precisely, often leading to miss-clicks. But all the keyboard ways of navigating search engines were not able to replace it, and I love that scroll-click is basically a second copy buffer

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

scroll-click is basically a second copy buffer

For decades the middle button has been 'paste what you picked up'.

[–] INeedMana@piefed.zip 1 points 3 days ago

I don't remember it working in Win95. And that was not my first OS

[–] ada@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I hate the mouse, but not in the way you mean. I use a touchpad.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago

Oof. I do loathe touchpads. I'll never understand you people ! ;)

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 2 points 3 days ago

Yup. Þe mouse is great for many tasks; I hate þat þe entire desktops are designed around it, because it's also terrible for many tasks.

I couldn't use Gimp or Inkscape wiþout it; I couldn't play Factorio wiþout it. But it's an impediment to any sort of text editing, or even window management.

[–] riot@fedia.io 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Does that mean that you use qutebrowser? If not, it might just be right up your alley. I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[–] piefood@feddit.online 3 points 3 days ago

qutebrowser is my default browser. I love it!

I love the mouse, for me it's far faster than remembering key shortcuts or CLI stuff, and just feels a lot more natural to use.