I can hardly tell the difference between my razer stealth linux touchpad and my workprovided macbook.
Even based on the feedback, it seems that most people are okay with their touchpad experience and are more interested in advanced features like multitouch.
Having this said, for myself this is a tough sell. I'm concerned that I would donate and I won't be able to tell the difference between this and some placebo drivers.
I'm in exactly the same spot with a (reasonably old 2017 model) Dell XPS.
Wayland with libinput has been a JOY to use compared to basically anything I've used in linux before.
I tried running an X based DE about 2 years ago on this machine and actually went back to running it in a VM in windows because the touchpad felt so shoddy.
No problems at all with the current setup. Can barely tell the different between my work Mac and the XPS.
Maybe it's just time and continued development on libinput, but the differences I found are:
Two fingered scroll works by default
Sensitivity/Acceleration curves basically match OSX out of the box
Right click on two finger tap is easily enabled and feels good
Support for multi finger swipe (3/4 fingers) easily enabled and feels good
Palm detection is MILES better (I have huge hands and this is a serious problem)
---
Each of those was a serious issue 3 years ago trying to get things working through xinput (although again, I migrated to wayland about 1.5 years ago and have never looked back so maybe it's better now)
X and xinput give folks a TON of options, and in certain situations that's great. But most of the time (all of the time in my experience) it led to bad defaults and consistently broken settings after upgrades.
I genuinely enjoy the zero configuration approach Wayland has taken here with libinput.
I'm on a mac for work, and while I really disagree with Apple's philosophy, I can't argue that they provide a simple and fantastic touchpad experience. I get that by default on my current setup and it feels nice.
I genuinely enjoy most aspects of system management, but trial and error editing of magic numbers in an xorg conf file for my touchpad just sucked.
Yeah I don't have a problem with either my Asus Zenbook or my HP Envy.
Reading through the comments it sounds like the real problem is Thinkpad trackpads suck for whatever reason and this is somehow getting extrapolated to "Linux trackpads suck".
And the Apple touchpad doesn't hinge at all! The "click" reaction you get when you press it is simulated by a set of force sensors and an actuator that vibrates the trackpad to simulate a click.
The trackpad on the Magic Keyboard doesn't have a hinge at the back, there's a single button under the center and a lever that runs under the sides which actuates the button and makes the physical click movement: https://www.ifixit.com/News/41291/dang-the-ipad-pro-magic-ke...
Testing my (several years old) XPS 13, perhaps the back 1/4 is noticeably harder to click than the rest, and the very back 5-7 mm is unclickable.
I have to say I've never noticed that before. I always use tap-to-click (whether on macs or non-macs) and most of the time I click using the front 1/2 of the pad anyway. If I weren't using tap-to-click the dead zone would probably bother me though.
Well, I'm using tap to click which is what I prefer.
On the macbook pro I'm using clicks because tapping doesn't work as well as reliably, for example tap and drag.
Later edit - I tried comparing the clickable area, and indeed, the upper region is not clickable on my razer (TIL). I realized this only just now, because this not how I usually use touchpads.
Do you click with your "aiming" finger? I usually have tap-to-click turned on and do tap that way, but on any touchpad, MacBooks primarily until recently, I always click with my thumb on the bottom quarter, where older touchpads had a separate button. Is this only because I started on those old-style touchpads?
I started on trackpads with the separate buttons, but now click with my index finger. I’ve found that the longer I’ve used the MacBook touch pads (and especially since they went fully non-mechanical) the more I dislike other touch pads.
Even based on the feedback, it seems that most people are okay with their touchpad experience and are more interested in advanced features like multitouch.
Having this said, for myself this is a tough sell. I'm concerned that I would donate and I won't be able to tell the difference between this and some placebo drivers.