Years ago, Linux reached a high level of hardware compatibility with most peripheral devices, including keyboards and mice. Most input devices will just work out of the box when connected to a Linux machine (a brave statement! – Ed). However, many people require more fine-grain control and extra features, such as the ability to assign custom actions or keys to auxiliary buttons on these devices.
In LXF211 we reviewed Piper, a program for controlling the extra buttons on a gaming mouse. Yet even though it was good, the range of supported device was limited. This time we’re highlighting Key Mapper, a more versatile input device manager. This application can help you reassign any button of the keyboard to input a custom character, or carry out an action. Key Mapper also supports a range of other peripherals including gamepads, graphic tablets, touchpads, digital cameras and even sleep buttons on your laptop or PC. In general, if your device is properly detected by the Linux kernel and later by the Evdev/libinput driver in X11 and Wayland, respectively, it’ll also work with Key Mapper.