Can we please get Mouse Acceleration as a GUI control?

[BloodyIron]

Can we please get a GUI control for adjusting and turning off Mouse Acceleration? This is really important for gaming.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.10
Package: gnome-control-center 1:3.26.2-0ubuntu0.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.13.0-21.24-generic 4.13.13
Uname: Linux 4.13.0-21-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.7-0ubuntu3.6
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Thu Dec 21 08:54:59 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-07-20 (884 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422)
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report, that upstream feature request seems similar https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/issues/94

[BloodyIron (bloodyiron)]

Why yes, it is generally the same, except I submitted 12 months ago, heh ;P

Either way, I'd like to get this implemented. Had I know the gitlab for Gnome was the more appropriate place to post this, I would have.

Which area do Gnome developers _actually_ look at? :S

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

GNOME is using gitlab.gnome.org, Ubuntu is distributing their softwares and contributing improvements/fixed but the better place to discuss changes is upstream

[BloodyIron (bloodyiron)]

So there are now Mouse Acceleration settings coming to a Release version of GNOME/Ubuntu? If so, which version is being targetted @jbicha ?

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

This feature is in GNOME 44 Beta. Ubuntu 23.04 will release in April with this feature.

Screenshot attached.

[BloodyIron (bloodyiron)]

Okay so that's good, but why use an ambiguous term such as "Pointer assistance" when it's more widely known as "Mouse acceleration"? You have to drill down into the tooltip to even see the connection, and I think this is likely to lead to a lot of people not even knowing what that setting does. Like, I really think there's less value in using the term "Pointer assistance" over the term "Mouse acceleration", as anyone who actually wants to turn the setting off will be looking for "Mouse acceleration" and not "Pointer assistance".

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

See the design discussion at
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/-/merge_requests/1548

I saw some discussion at
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/112662l/mouse_acceleration_profiles_were_just_merged_in/
that pointed out that neither Windows nor OS X call this feature Mouse Acceleration.

[BloodyIron (bloodyiron)]

That doesn't make it a good decision. The primary audience of mouse acceleration as a feature is gamers, and the overwhelming majority consistently refer to it as Mouse Acceleration. I've been running and attending gaming events for over 20 years, and I never hear them refer to it as anything but Mouse Acceleration.

Example google query shows 4,500,000 results : https://www.google.com/search?q=mouse+acceleration+gaming

This guide for competitive gaming settings literally has the first recommendation of disabling Mouse Acceleration: https://alexskra.com/blog/competitive-gaming-optimal-settings/

Here's another article that explains that the Windows term used refers to Mouse Acceleration, and the impact of it: https://eliteownage.com/mouseguide.html

And another: https://www.billelafros.com/how-to-turn-off-mouse-acceleration-and-why-does-it-matter-for-esports/

Seriously there is an effectively inexhaustible source of information reliably demonstrating that "Mouse Acceleration" is not only the functional term that is appropriate, but it is the one that is used with effectively total dominance in the common vernacular.

The justification (made by you, or other people) that Windows/macOS call it something completely pointless can be countered easily with "if they jumped off a bridge, would you?" style of rebuttal.

I genuinely see zero actual reason to call it anything but "Mouse Acceleration", as it literally changes how the mouse pointer _accelerates_. Putting aside the aforementioned points made about actual verbiage used in the affected user base (gamers).

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

Ubuntu is very unlikely to use different wording here than what GNOME does.

It's best to keep bugs focused on a single actionable issue. You requested a mouse acceleration setting and it will be added to Ubuntu 23.04. You would need a new bug for different issues (but like I said, it's unlikely for Ubuntu developers to make a wording change here).

You might be interested in following
https://gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/Design/settings-mockups/-/issues/51

[BloodyIron (bloodyiron)]

Yes, I requested "Mouse Acceleration" not any other name for it, or behaviour. And this bug/feature request should implement it as "Mouse Acceleration" as that is the term used when humans talk about it, namely in the gaming community/industries.

I have posted in that thread you've linked to, thanks for pointing me to this.

It would be a mistake to call this feature anything but "Mouse Acceleration" as that is what a human is expecting to see when looking for that setting, and using any other term or verbiage would tangibly make it harder to actually know which setting disables "Mouse Acceleration".

The fact there are guides showing how to disable "Mouse Acceleration" in other operating systems reliably demonstrates that the terms used by Windows/macOS, etc, are not sensible or self-indicative terms. If the term used were "Mouse Acceleration", a guide realistically would likely not be needed at all.

Adding a function should always take usability into consideration, and there is a very tangible usability difference between "Mouse Acceleration" as a term for the function, or _any other term used_.

The devs will do as they may, but again, it would be a tangible mistake to not use "Mouse Acceleration" as the name.