Linux desktop & special mouse driver

When I tried to turn my PC on last night, there was a loud bang & the circuit breaker on my sockets pinged off. It seems like the power supply has gone out in style. This made me sad.
I've been thinking of changing it anyway, but the machine I'm probably going to get comes with no OS (unless I want to wait 7-10 days for them to install windows, which I don't. Cannot live without games that long). So I am thinking of getting it without an OS, and installing Linux. I use Linux at work (scripting and a bit of admin), but never had it as a desktop.

But I use this mouse due to arthritis, and it does not list linux support on the site. Do I have any reasonable chance of getting it working on Linux, and any way to check which distros may or will support it?

Or do you know if there are any other good ambidextrous vertical mice with Linux support? I need one I can swap between hands ideally as different wrists can be bad on different days...

Errr.. specific games? Because not everything will work on Linux.

Also Linux support for specific stuff can be very spotty. I guess easiest is to check the maker if they got drivers, if not it's crapshot. Maybe it works, without, maybe it doesn't. You could google the name of the device together with "linux support" and see what pops out. Someone is bound to have asked the question before.

As to OS, nowadays you can actually download and install windows 10 for free. And then buy the license from MS and it verifies it right off the bat.


Been thinking about something similar after my recent computer upgrade apparently means am not allowed my old upgraded Win8.1 come Win10 license on a new computer.

I can tell from my own experience with Fedora that almost everything I plugged in was immediately recognized and ran. And for the few things that didn't, there always was a package available.
As long as the output from the device is movement directions and right button, middle button, left button, it should make no difference what shape the plastic casing is. If it has more fancy additional features that a regular mouse can't do, then it might need an extra package downloaded and install, which generally is very easy.

There is actually an easy and inexpensive way to test that. Most Linux versions I've seen these days are installed with live USB sticks. All you need for that is a USB stick on which you install the OS with a special program. When you stick it into a USB port and boot the computer, it will ignore the computer's hard drive and treat the stick as the hard drive instead. You will then have a running version of your Linux OS on the computer that has full functionality, but will reset to default every time you boot it. When you're done you shut down the computer, remove the stick, and then start it again, and it will boot the OS from the hard drive just as it always has.
While you are running this live version of your Linux OS, you can plug in your mouse and see if it works. If it doesn't, you can try looking for a package that enables it. If it works then, then it also will work when you install the OS on the hard drive.

It seems to me like installing and setting up Fedora has become a lot easier over the years, though that might well be mostly my own experience. Going into Linux for the first time was a pretty steep learning curve. Took me probably a week until I had everything running properly, and another six months or so to really get familiar with how Linux works.

I have not worked with any Windows version since XP and never had any real problems with Fedora. But almost all my PC games I run in WINE are from the 90s, I only tried running Starcraft 2 and Homeworld Remastered more recently. Starcraft 2 has a Linux client, I believe, and Homeworld Remastered is one of the occasional games that just never wants to work for lots of people on Linux, even with Wine. (The original version runs well, though.)

Thanks for the information. I'm aware some of the games won't work on Linux.

I think I'll try Linux first - can always go back to Windows/dual-boot if I cannot get it going :smallbiggrin:

Well, everything works OK so far - thanks for the advice all.

Linux comes with generic drivers for common hardware, like mouses and keyboards. It's only if the mouse has special features would you need a specific driver. If it's functional equivalent, it should work with the generic drivers.

Not sure why you wouldn't have just installed Windows yourself. You can get Win 10 for free. Sure it runs in demo mode, but all that means is their is some theme things you can't do after X # of months. I mean if you want Linux, go for it, but why go that route as a substitute?

A few reasons to look at Linux rather than Windows. Mainly curiousity to see what Linux desktop is like these days to be honest, and it gives me a chance to play around & build up my linux knowledge whch can be helpful at work. But also I know a few people how have had their systems screwed up by Win 10 auto-update, so there is that. I've also been frustrated with bloated OS.

For the moment Linux is doing what I want it to, but I suspect in the longer term I'll end up doing a dual-boot. Time will tell

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by caden_varn

Mainly curiousity to see what Linux desktop is like these days...

---

Which desktop, Cinnamon, KDE, Gnome, Mate, XFCE, or some other?

Ah, curiosity, that's a good reason. As long as you're not a cat *G*

In my perception, KDE looks very much like Windows. Or at least, like Windows XP. (More recent Windows' now look incomprehensible to me.)

But then, I think I chose KDE precisely because it resembled Windows. What I really wanted back then was for stuff to look like I was used to, with the option to arrange everything like I had them in WinXP.

What operating system are you running now?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yora

What operating system are you running now?

---

My OS is Linux 4.4.0-146. My distro is Linux Mint. My desktop is Mate.

Currently on Ubuntu, as this is the one listed on Steam, and getting at least some games running asap was a priority. May well change once I have done some actual research...

Any suggestions on good places to get information on different flavours?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by caden_varn

Any suggestions on good places to get information on different flavours?

---

Search for "Linux distros"

Hi,
If it's the same model as "Posturite Penguin Ambidextrous Vertical Mouse Medium" then it works with Linux.