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I have been using an xbox one controller instead of a mouse for 4 or 5 months now. I use the qjoypad package to map the thing. It's really great and I believe i

I have been using an xbox one controller instead of a mouse for 4 or 5 months now. I use the qjoypad package to map the thing. It's really great and I believe it's why my chronic right-side back pain has completely vanished. So as someone who uses this type of input device, I think it's a great fit for military use.

mih 9y ago
I started doing this too, but use Antimicro (https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro) instead of Qjoypad, since I find it to be more configurable. I don't use it as a replacement for a mouse but a keyboard instead. I configure it for specific apps where I need repetetive keystrokes, such as : - VLC when I need an easier way to seek media by various amounts, speed-up/slow-down the video, play next in the playlist. Using the controller frees me from being hunched on the keyboard - Any document reader to navigate pages It can of course be configured as a replacement for a mouse, but the precision in my experience was way lower.
- newman8r 9y ago
  I'm going to take a look at that I ran into the precision issue as well, but my brain eventually figured out how to deal with it. I use the left analog pad for higher precision tasks
tomcam 9y ago
Wow, can you elaborate on how you employ it and what you think it did specifically to help?
- newman8r 9y ago
  I just posted a slightly more detailed response in this thread related to the layout I use. In terms of how I think it helped: for ergonomics/back pain relief: I tend to sit up with a lot better posture now rather than 'reaching out to the right' where the traditional mouse used to be. Over time, I'd developed some minor right side back pain and I stretched a lot and attempted better posture. It only helped so much. After I'd switched to the xbox controller, I started to feel better after a few weeks. Months later, the pain was completely gone and it hasn't come back since. I didn't make any other significant changes and I suspect my change in user input devices could be to thank.
  - tomcam 9y ago
    Your posts are going to help people. Thank you.
kizer 9y ago
Are we talking gaming only here? Otherwise, I'm very curious how you use the controller.
rijoja 9y ago
I would be interested in learning more about your experiences using this? Have you been controlling a PC and what are your experiences with entering text and so forth? Hope you can find the time to answer all my stupid questions!
- newman8r 9y ago
  I mainly use it on my desktop, running debian stretch The interesting thing is there's a learning period of a few weeks where I kept the sensitivity low on the analog sticks. I have the sensitivity lower on the left stick (for packages like inkscape or blender). I gradually ramped up the sensitivity. I often use it one-handed (right hand) and control with just the right analog stick. I have the analog pad clicks set to the right mouse button. The 'a' button is my left click, x button is 'enter', 'b' is another right click. The dpad is up, down, left right keyboard buttons. I use the left and right bumpers to switch between by workspaces (lb switches workspace up, rb switches down). the triggers enable middle mouse scroll up or down. I still use a keyboard so entering text isn't much different, and I'm a vim user so the mouse isn't a big part of my workflow when coding or entering text.
jpindar 9y ago
I've experimented with using Padstar for the same purpose. It worked well enough, but I had no particular reason to keep using it.

mih 9y ago

I started doing this too, but use Antimicro (https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro) instead of Qjoypad, since I find it to be more configurable. I don't use it as a replacement for a mouse but a keyboard instead. I configure it for specific apps where I need repetetive keystrokes, such as : - VLC when I need an easier way to seek media by various amounts, speed-up/slow-down the video, play next in the playlist. Using the controller frees me from being hunched on the keyboard - Any document reader to navigate pages It can of course be configured as a replacement for a mouse, but the precision in my experience was way lower.

newman8r 9y ago
I'm going to take a look at that I ran into the precision issue as well, but my brain eventually figured out how to deal with it. I use the left analog pad for higher precision tasks

tomcam 9y ago

Wow, can you elaborate on how you employ it and what you think it did specifically to help?

newman8r 9y ago
I just posted a slightly more detailed response in this thread related to the layout I use. In terms of how I think it helped: for ergonomics/back pain relief: I tend to sit up with a lot better posture now rather than 'reaching out to the right' where the traditional mouse used to be. Over time, I'd developed some minor right side back pain and I stretched a lot and attempted better posture. It only helped so much. After I'd switched to the xbox controller, I started to feel better after a few weeks. Months later, the pain was completely gone and it hasn't come back since. I didn't make any other significant changes and I suspect my change in user input devices could be to thank.
- tomcam 9y ago
  Your posts are going to help people. Thank you.

kizer 9y ago

Are we talking gaming only here? Otherwise, I'm very curious how you use the controller.

rijoja 9y ago

I would be interested in learning more about your experiences using this? Have you been controlling a PC and what are your experiences with entering text and so forth? Hope you can find the time to answer all my stupid questions!

newman8r 9y ago
I mainly use it on my desktop, running debian stretch The interesting thing is there's a learning period of a few weeks where I kept the sensitivity low on the analog sticks. I have the sensitivity lower on the left stick (for packages like inkscape or blender). I gradually ramped up the sensitivity. I often use it one-handed (right hand) and control with just the right analog stick. I have the analog pad clicks set to the right mouse button. The 'a' button is my left click, x button is 'enter', 'b' is another right click. The dpad is up, down, left right keyboard buttons. I use the left and right bumpers to switch between by workspaces (lb switches workspace up, rb switches down). the triggers enable middle mouse scroll up or down. I still use a keyboard so entering text isn't much different, and I'm a vim user so the mouse isn't a big part of my workflow when coding or entering text.

jpindar 9y ago

I've experimented with using Padstar for the same purpose. It worked well enough, but I had no particular reason to keep using it.