Kubuntu Maverick: how to disable there the touchpad while typing?

[Doug]

On 12/30/2010 07:21 AM, Bas Roufs wrote:
> Hello Doug and Everybody
>
> Yesterday I told you about my research for a " graphical tool to
> disable the touchpad while typing (...) at an Asus 1001 HA netbook
> with, at present Kubuntu 10.10 and Win7 dual boot"
>
> You replied as follows:
>> If you are using the KDE version of Kubuntu, you should have access to
>> Synaptiks--note the last few letters.
> By the way, what do you mean with "note the last few letters"?
>
Synaptiks, as contrasted with Synaptic, the people who wrote the
touchpad code, I think, as well as the package manager for PCLOS
and perhaps some other distros.
> Howver it may be, I do have Kubuntu 10.10, including KDE 4.5.1. That's
> why I have taken a look at "Synaptiks". But when trying to install it,
> I get the following feedback:
> "The following changes are required in order to proceed. To be removed:
> kcm-touchpad
> kde-config-touchpad."
>
> For the time being, I have cancelled the operation and taken a look at
> the 2 already installed packages mentioned above. "kcm-touchpad" seems
> to be a transitional package that can safely be removed. However,
> "kde-config-touchpad" is the package that is supposed to have the
> function I am looking for. According to the info I can find via a
> package manager, kde-config-touchpad
>   (...) is a configuration module for System Settings for configuring laptop
>   touchpads. With it the user can configure sensitivity, scrolling settings,
>   as well as enable "Smart Mode", which disables the touchpad while typing (...)"
> This package is apparently the one I mentioned in my previous message:
> K-menu>  System Settings>  Hardware>  Input Devices>  Touchpad.
> However, it is not obvious where exactly I can find the "Smart mode"
> which disables the touchpad while typing: is it the option General>
> "touchpad off" + "allow moving"?
>
> Thanks for replying, respectfully yours,
>
> Bas.
>
What I think you want to do is disable the touchpad altogether when you 
have
an external pointing device (mouse or trackball) plugged into a usb port.
That's what Synaptiks does. The other gadget that only disables the 
touchpad
while you are typing, I found to be a PITA, since it has very little 
delay between
the time you take your finger off a key until the pad starts moving the 
cursor
again.  In other words, AFAIC, it really doesn't do the job that needs 
done.
But if you don't use an external mouse or ball, I guess you're stuck 
with the
"disable while typing" arrangement. Maybe there's a way to lengthen the
delay to a good fraction of a second, rather than the few milliseconds 
it seems
to have now.

--doug

-- 
Blessed are the peacemakers...for they shall be shot at from both sides. --A. M. Greeley