Hello again 👋 Elementary OS

It's been a year or so since I last tried Elementary OS.

Since then, Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS have been my daily driver. I've grown accustomed to GNOME as my desktop environment. I watched several videos on The Linux Experiment's YouTube Channel.

I recently found out about Fusuma through a YouTube video by InfinitelyGalactic, Build an Open Mac Alternative! - a Guide to Switching from macOS to elementary OS. I recommend watching the video as it does a very nice job of showing how Elementary OS stands on its own and how it's not a skinned desktop environment trying to look like macOS. The video detailed how to enable multi-touch gestures, similar to macOS's wonderful trackpads on Apple laptops.

That sounded so intriguing, it prompted me to give Elementary OS another go!

Multitouch Gestures with Fusuma

Fusuma is multitouch gesture recognizer. This gem makes your linux able to recognize swipes or pinchs and assign commands to them.

襖(Fusuma) means sliding door used to partition off rooms in a Japanese 🇯🇵 house.

Installation

Following along from Fusuma's general installation and Fusuma's Elementary OS Wiki Page.

1. Grant permission to read the touchpad device

IMPORTANT: You MUST be a member of the INPUT group to read touchpad by Fusuma.

sudo gpasswd -a $USER input

Then, You MUST LOGOUT/LOGIN or REBOOT to assign this group.

2. Install libinput-tools

You need libinput release 1.0 or later.

sudo apt-get install libinput-tools

3. Install Fusuma

I added the installation of Ruby to enable the gem command.

sudo apt install ruby-full sudo gem install fusuma

4. Install xdotool (optional)

For sending shortcuts:

sudo apt-get install xdotool

5. Setup Plugins

Fusuma Plugin Wmctrl

Fusuma Plugin Wmctrol GitHub Page

Install wmctrl

sudo apt install wmctrl
Install fusuma-plugin-wmctrl

This plugin requires Fusuma version 1.0 or later.

sudo gem install fusuma-plugin-wmctrl

Fusuma Plugin Keypress

Install fusuma-plugin-keypress

This plugin requires Fusuma version 1.4 or later.

sudo gem install fusuma-plugin-keypress

Usage from terminal

sudo fusuma -d

-d to run detached form the current terminal session sudo to detect trackpad when running from terminal

Update

sudo gem update fusuma

Customize Gesture Mapping

You can customize the settings for gestures to put and edit ~/.config/fusuma/config.yml. NOTE: You will need to create the ~/.config/fusuma directory if it doesn't exist yet.

mkdir -p ~/.config/fusuma # create config directory nano ~/.config/fusuma/config.yml # edit config file.

Example (Gesture Mapping for Elementary OS)

swipe:
  3:
    left:
      command: 'xdotool key alt+Right' # History forward
      keypress:
        LEFTCTRL:
          command: 'xdotool key ctrl+Tab' # Next tab
    right:
      command: 'xdotool key alt+Left' # History back
      keypress:
        LEFTCTRL:
          command: 'xdotool key ctrl+shift+Tab' # Prev tab
    up:
      command: 'xdotool key ctrl+t' # Open new tab
      keypress:
        LEFTSHIFT:
          command: 'xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+shift+t' # Open last closed tab
    down:
      command: 'xdotool key ctrl+w' # Close tab
  4:
    left:
      workspace: 'next' # Switch to next workspace
      keypress:
        LEFTSHIFT: 
          window: 'next' # Move window to next workspace
        LEFTMETA:
          command: 'xdotool key --clearmodifiers super+ctrl+Left' # Move window to left side
    right:
      workspace: 'prev' # Switch to previous workspace
      keypress:
        LEFTSHIFT: 
          window: 'prev' # Move window to previous workspace
        LEFTMETA:
          command: 'xdotool key --clearmodifiers super+ctrl+Right'  # Move window to right side
    up:
      command: 'xdotool key super+s' # Workspace overview
      keypress:
        LEFTMETA:
          window:
            maximized: 'toggle' # Toggle Maximize/Unmaximize Window
    down:
      command: 'xdotool key super+a' # Window overview
      keypress:
        LEFTMETA:
          window: 'close' # Close window

pinch:
  2:
    in:
      command: 'xdotool keydown ctrl click 4 keyup ctrl' # Zoom in
    out:
      command: 'xdotool keydown ctrl click 5 keyup ctrl' # Zoom out
  4:
    in:
      command: 'xdotool key super+a' # Window overview
    out:
      command: 'xdotool key super+s' # Workspace overview

rotate:
  2:
    clockwise:
      command: 'xdotool key XF86AudioRaiseVolume' # Volume up
    counterclockwise:
      command: 'xdotool key XF86AudioLowerVolume' # Volume down
  3:
    clockwise:
      command: 'xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessUp' # Brightness up
    counterclockwise:
      command: 'xdotool key XF86MonBrightnessDown' # Brightness down

plugin: 
  inputs:
    libinput_command_input: # options for lib/plugin/inputs/libinput_command_input
      enable-tap: true # click to tap
      enable-dwt: true # disable tap while typing
      show-keycodes: true # https://github.com/iberianpig/fusuma-plugin-keypress#add-show-keycode-option

Enable on Startup and Login

Elementary Startup (Create a startup entry)

Hit Super+Space to open the search, type "Startup", and find "Applications-> Startup"

Add an entry with:

/usr/local/bin/fusuma -d

Reference on GitHub Issue describing command to use for startup

Voila! There you have it. You should be able to logout, login, and enjoy multi-touch gestures on your trackpad.

Elementary Blog Post hinting at multi-touch support

Fingers crossed for more built in multi-touch support!

Hints for More multi-touch support

They mention Libhandy library, and I'm not sure how that library differs from lipinput-tools. Either way, it's exciting news! If you agree, check out their Funding Page

Plug for AppCenter for Everyone

Lastly, a plug for their IndieGogo Campaign to help improve the app ecosystem on Linux desktops!

I'm a big fan of their goals with their Elementary team's "AppCenter for Everyone" campaign of creating a way to pay for and distribute applications on Linux.

I think their efforts will be a very positive thing for the open source community.

If you agree, check out their AppCenter for Everyone campaign!