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Frame from "Write a single library to handle all input devices, it'll be easy" they said... Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

"Write a single library to handle all input devices, it'll be easy" they said...

5 videos recommended on HN
YouTube
1 HN user recommended this talk1 month2020–2024 score 1.5
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Cited for insight into the hard realities of Linux input handling and libinput's thinly staffed maintenance.

Peter Hutterer's linux.conf.au 2020 talk on creating libinput, the unified userspace input library, and the difficulties of handling the many quirks of input devices.

“One of the folks behind both Wayland and X gave a fantastic talk on the issues and the hell.” (HN, 2024)

1 strong recommendations · 3 citations · Talks · intermediate

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@indrora Aug 2024 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Window Maker: X11 window manager with the look and feel of the NeXTSTEP UI
There are some advantages and disadvantages of the approach. However, there's just stuff that X assumes that isn't true anymore. A good example is how it handles input. How many cursors does a screen have? One machine? okay, One input device? One of the folks behind both Wayland and X gave a fantastic talk on the issues and the hell. [this video]
Talk on the problems with X input handling

Citations, criticism and jokes

@scaladev Dec 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Linux 5.10
The whole usermode side of input handling depends on a project (libinput) that's been developed by a single guy over the last decade. He asked for help numerous times, reminding everyone that libinput has a bus factor of one, and received none. So either go ahead and help, or stop complaining. [this video]
Talk about libinput's solo maintainer and input devices
@Akronymus Nov 2021 Cites it
on HN thread “This project will only take 2 hours”
Yeah it takes a LOT of work to hide it [1] Also: For some stuff I want to be able to use the "arcane" parameters for some really obscure task where it is just the right flag or something. [1] [this video]
Footnote on how much work hiding complexity takes
@5e92cb50239222b Dec 2021 Cites it
on HN thread Linux Touchpad Like MacBook Update: Touchpad Gestures Now Shipping
That "dev" you're criticizing here has been developing libinput solo since the beginning. He asked for help numerous times and never received any. So either step up and do the work, or stop complaining. [this video] libinput is yet another of those fundamental libraries that receive almost no developer attention, but get all the blame when something goes wrong: [link]
Backs claim that libinput's developer worked alone

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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