Help! - Looking for help with less Mouse reliant software options [Solved]

[dsaly1969]

Hi all,

I'm loving MX Linux - very stable and easy to use. Due to an ongoing neurological issue (severe cervical radiculopathy due to scoliosis and inverse curvature of the neck), I have a hard time holding the mouse or a pencil and I can type for longer than I can grip. I have been experimenting with different WM's and DE's that are not so reliant on the mouse. Using the mouse hurts more than typing although I also have to limit that. Right now I am using i3wm and have also tried dwm and wmii. I may also look into into Ratpoison. Are there any others good alternatives I should look at (I am a non-programmer but can do i3 configs easily enough for hotkeys)? Also any recommendations for good software available on MX Linux which is less mouse reliant and more keyboard/hotkey based while still providing access to the Internet with graphics, etc.? What about voice recognition?

Thanks!

Dave

[dolphin_oracle]

internet with graphics is a little tricky without the mouse. there is links2 (I think that's the name) which does graphical/text mode browsing, and elinks which I think is text-only but also more advanced in feature support.

I wonder if something like a thinkpad's touchpoint eraser head might be beneficial to you.

I'm a fan of the fluxbox setup from antiX. you can do everything with the keyboard, and it has a similar amount of insane keyboard combinations. the mx-fluxbox (already on the 19.1 isos) is good too. the first thing I do is add "Super_L:RootMenu" to the keys file so I can get the window manager window with the "windows" key on the keyboard.

midnight commander is good for a file manager. Evince is actually not too bad with a keyboard for PDF viewing (a lot of gnome apps are better than you might think for keyboard-only operation, including the gnome-desktop).

actually, console apps might be right in your wheelhouse. there are console apps for everything from running your network connections (nmtui) to torrent management, rss feeds, and irc chat. there are console based music clients (mpd and its clients are ones that I've used). I think there is even a cli telegram client, although I don't know if its in our repo or not.

[j2mcgreg]

What about a differently designed mouse? This one is designed for folks with sever arthritis in their wrists and hands.

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=3M+Wired+Ergo ... s_li_tf_tl

[woodsman]

man thanks for that link. Interesting for sure.

[eriefisher]

"Most" if not all application have at least some sort of hotkey function built in. You can always make up your own hotkey map as well. The desktop as well has some cross distro default as well as custom. These allow to switch desktops/VT's, scroll through application windows etc. It's fairly limitless of what you can do if your willing to spend a bunch of time to set it up. I understand your dilemma, I went from a standard mouse to a cordless with a thumb ball. I have arthritis and can have trouble grasping and holding on the things. This mouse allows me to just rest my hand on it and navigate.

[jeffreyC]

I wonder if something like a thinkpad's touchpoint eraser head might be beneficial to you.

IBM made desktop keyboards with Trackpoints, later they sold the manufacturing equipment and rights for them to Unicomp who still make them. They were and are versions of the Model M mechanical keyboard, so if clicky keyboards bother you or those around you...
Lenovo makes desktop keyboards with Trackpoints also, but I have seen comments that they are lighter and less sturdy than the originals.

Some of these are USB, so they can be plugged in to most any laptop too.

[mikeswifty]

You might like qutebrowser. It's a keyboard driven browser.

Luke Smith has a video about it on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2RtjO_jXvY