[buug] Mouse problem in Linux

[Rick Moen]

begin  ezekielk at iname.com quotation:
 
> I dare not make such a claim, as I am too much a novice! But there is
> definitely no "mouseconfig" program; and Corel's mouse help
> filesexplicitly says to run XF86Setup (sp?) if you need to setup the
> mouse.

Oh, OK.  If it's the same XF86Setup utility as on most Linux
distributions (the one from the XFree86 Project), then that will
configure your pointing device for _X_ (only).  That is, it'll write a
new /etc/X11/XF86Config file.

That's a useful thing in itself, but it's not what you said you're
trying to do.  You said you wanted mouse support at the text-mode
console, right?  I.e., when you're not running X.

For that, you need to run gpm, the general-purpose mouse driver.  As I
mentioned.

It's very likely that Corel doesn't tell you anything about gpm
specifically because they're trying to de-emphasise Linux's non-X
functionality.  Corel Linux is a carefully targeted play at the MS
Windows desktop market.  So, it stands to reason that they'd have little
to say about how to operate efficiently outside of X.

> I can work with that. It *is really annoying to try to read messages
> with overextended margins.  For now, I must remember to end each line
> before my web-mail wraps it in the little window. I hope this message
> looks better, as result.

Thanks for taking the trouble.  Sounds like a lot of work.

> Of all the distros, I have decided to settle on Mandrake for my own
> use, and Caldera for my clients.

Yeah, a lot of people like Mandrake for desktop use.  I haven't tried
Caldera in a few years.

> I *will get back to Debian, once I have more Linux expertise under my
> belt. This should be in a week or so. I have purchased the CD w/book
> "Learning Debian GNU/Linux" by O'Reilly, whom you highly recommend.
> (Just $19!)  

Um, hate to say it, but I didn't recommend that book.  The book is a
decent general book on Linux, but doesn't have much to say about
Debian's unique features.  I think it has on the order of two pages
about apt-get and related files, for example, and maybe three pages
about dpkg.

You might have a look at my Debian Tips file, even though it drastically
needs re-writing and reorganisation, and needs to have the stuff about
Debian "slink" (2.1) discarded in favour of "potato" (2.2), which should
be one's starting point, these days.  

http://linuxmafia.com/debian/tips

--  
Cheers,               It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
Rick Moen          It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
rick (at)        The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning,
linuxmafia.com         It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.