alt Hacker NewsShocking that in this time and age, a simple peripheral like a mouse still needs a dedicated piece of software to be installed. In my Linux boxes, I just plug in a standard mouse and get the standard functions. I think the device driver should know about the low-level interface to the mouse: know how it points, what buttons, scroll wheels, and other inputs it may have, etc. Then the OS would process it like any mouse. If you need to connect some buttons to specific actions, that could be handled by a user-level program running on the machine that could know how to do those actions. But that level should be far removed from knowing what brand (or type) of input device you are using.
Of course producers like Logitech want you to install their own thing, so as to make it harder for you to switch to other brands of hardware, but an open system like Linux should not play along with that.
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Simple mouses have simple interfaces and its functions are built into the OS. These mouses are a little bit beyond simple. These are ten button interfaces. So there is the default programming. And custom programming. The software is for custom programming.
Another alternative is a utility called xmouse.
> In my Linux boxes, I just plug in a standard mouse and get the standard functions.
That'll work with Logitech mice too. It's only for all the extra buttons and functions that you need their software.
Of course the Logitech mouse can be plugged and will just work without installation. The software allows to customize buttons, macros, DPI ranges, lights, etc. Still sucks, but it's not really needed to make it work or use it.