Add touchscreen functionality to Debian is possible by using appropriate packages and drivers.
Add touchscreen functionality to Debian is possible by using appropriate packages and drivers.
I have a Debian virtual machine connected through AnyDesk. It functions well on another PC but becomes problematic on an Android phone due to lack of touchscreen support and mouse simulation. Actions like scrolling and dragging are hard to perform. Switching to regular touch controls triggers an error saying the function isn't supported. You might need a driver to enable this functionality.
I attempted to run Microsoft Surface on Linux with a touchscreen only setup. The experience was very poor. Gestures like swiping up for an on-screen keyboard or using two-finger swipes for workspace changes don’t work properly. Wayland introduces some extra issues Xorg doesn’t have, such as being unable to move a Firefox window with a finger or having third-party keyboards crash. One suggestion is the tool at https://github.com/PeterCxy/evdev-right-click-emulation which lets you simulate right-clicks with long press. Be aware of the compilation notes and set it as a systemd service to start automatically at boot. I also had to enable Restart = on-failure in the service configuration, though success isn’t assured.
I also use a surface go 2 on Linux, and I can confirm gestures function better under Wayland—especially on an Intel GPU. Moving Firefox with a single finger works smoothly. The third-party on-screen keyboard is also responsive. What I’ve noticed is that multi-finger gestures don’t work well. I’m running a custom kernel, which I’d suggest installing (https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface). The biggest concern here is using AnyDesk—it ignores driver requirements for real touchscreens. TL;DR: switch programs, consider TeamViewer or RDP (xrdp) as alternatives.
I’m using the same Linux Surface kernel. Only single-finger input works on my Surface Pro 7, and most gestures need multi-touch. There are also problems with a third-party keyboard and Firefox. I’ve tested Ubuntu 18 and 20—what version are you using?
I also face a problem with the keyboard touchpad sensitivity (the original Microsoft version), which occasionally needs to be re-plugged. I've tried updating the graphics drivers and Xorg to the latest versions.