Sad news for fans of Roccat hardware as the sole developer working on Roccat device support, Stefan Achatz, is stepping down from his work.
You might not have heard of him, but he is the sole person who has been working on Roccat devices to enable you to get all the features out of your fancy keyboards and mice.
He posted this simple message:
Stefan AchatzI'm working on the already released Skeltr. This will be the last device I'm doing, this projects ends here.
This is sad, as Roccat don't do any work themselves on Linux support for their devices, which means in future you probably won't be able to use any of the fancy features included in their expensive range.
I actually interviewed Stefan back in 2014, so go take a look if you never read it.
This will certainly make me re-consider who I will be purchasing my next keyboard and mouse from, as it likely won't be Roccat.
Thanks for letting me know northerner! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
I just bought a Nyth for OpenStreetMap mapping purpose not for gaming but it works the same and it work well. I don't know if there is any other mouse with a lot of buttons so well supported on Linux. I hope the driver project (which is open source as far as I know) will continue...
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Quoting: TrumpIs the drivers he wrote opensource? Maybe the community can keep it functioning if it is. Can't blame him for quitting, but it does seem sad.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/roccat/files/
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Mountain Man Dec 13, 2016
Quoting: RavenSad times, only reason I bought the keyboard and mouse I did!!For mice, you can't go wrong Zowie. They're great products and don't depend on any drivers at all.
Are there any other options out there?
For keyboards, just get a standard, mechanical keyboard from a reputable maker. I recommend WASD Keyboards. You can even customize the "meta" key with a Tux logo.
Last edited by Mountain Man on 13 December 2016 at 9:31 pm UTC
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Indeed sad news. As always when someone steps back from work on stuff related to our beloved operating system. But when the userbase is big enough, chances are good someone else might pick up the code and continue on implementing support for new devices.
I have to admit, I've never used Roccat devices before, as I'm happy with my Apple keyboard and my Logitech MX 518 mouse. I love the quality and ergonomics of the Apple keyboard, and I was surpised how good it is supported on Linux. I could imagine that there are more people on Linux using Roccat keyboards than Apple keyboards. Ok, the Roccat keyboard has more features to support and I hope the best for future support. Too bad Roccat doesn't offer Linux support by themselves.
I have to admit, I've never used Roccat devices before, as I'm happy with my Apple keyboard and my Logitech MX 518 mouse. I love the quality and ergonomics of the Apple keyboard, and I was surpised how good it is supported on Linux. I could imagine that there are more people on Linux using Roccat keyboards than Apple keyboards. Ok, the Roccat keyboard has more features to support and I hope the best for future support. Too bad Roccat doesn't offer Linux support by themselves.
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I bought my first (and now my last) product from Roccat because of this guy. Won't touch Roccat again unless they have Linux support. Shame too, as their products are great. Well, barring their Kone XTD mouse which has a big issue with the mouse wheel failing (mine was dead OOTB). But the Kova replacement is excellent and my Ryos keyboard is both mechanical, customisable and pretty to look at.
I guess it's Razr from here on in? Although they rely on community drivers too, right?
I guess it's Razr from here on in? Although they rely on community drivers too, right?
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Such a shame. Roccat got my custom because of this one guy's work, and although the hardware has performed well, without the linux tools to configure them, they're little better than any of the competition.
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boltronics Dec 14, 2016
Never heard of Roccat before. Only one store I can find here sells anything by that brand - just one mouse model (which is end of life, Ex-demo model).
I personally switched to Ducky keyboards about a year ago. Everything is controlled by hardware - no special drivers required.
I personally switched to Ducky keyboards about a year ago. Everything is controlled by hardware - no special drivers required.
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this was the sole reason I use a roccat mouse, was looking into grabbing a keyboard by them as well. not so sure now :/
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A few days ago I bought the Alloy FPS by HyperX. It works without problems in GNU / Linux, in case someone is interested.
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It's a bit sad to hear that news. I quite like Roccat products, but I tend to prefer Saitek (now Mad Catz) ones. For what it's worth, I developed a driver for their R.A.T. mouse, albeit nowhere near as advanced as this one (though I have good hope). I also have a Cyborg V.7 keyboard (great for me, as I don't like mechanical keyboards that much, yeah, sorry), for which I have a few unpublished features in the works.
Generally speaking, it's difficult to write those drivers without manufacturer's support, since:
1) With no access to the documentation, it's generally guesswork and reverse-engineering
2) You often have to ressort to buying your own devices, which can be costly. And if you don't have any documentation, it's even harder to write drivers for devices you don't own.
3) Quite low gratification. You can spend a lot of time and money, and get nothing back from the company (as opposed to in-house driver developers who are paid), while providing added value to the products.
Regarding 3, I think the main motivation factors are to have some working hardware for yourself (it's a bit like tuning your car, you just try to make everything work perfectly -- or at least the way it was intended), and then, to know that other people are using your work. Giving makes one happy :).
But this can be a bit more difficult when it's hardware you don't own, as it's technically harder to support it, and you don't get to directly benefit from it. So, I think that's what might have pulled off Stefan in the end. I would like to know for sure, however.
I personally tried to get a few documents a while back, but there weren't that many devices back in the day, so I might retry soon.
Generally speaking, it's difficult to write those drivers without manufacturer's support, since:
1) With no access to the documentation, it's generally guesswork and reverse-engineering
2) You often have to ressort to buying your own devices, which can be costly. And if you don't have any documentation, it's even harder to write drivers for devices you don't own.
3) Quite low gratification. You can spend a lot of time and money, and get nothing back from the company (as opposed to in-house driver developers who are paid), while providing added value to the products.
Regarding 3, I think the main motivation factors are to have some working hardware for yourself (it's a bit like tuning your car, you just try to make everything work perfectly -- or at least the way it was intended), and then, to know that other people are using your work. Giving makes one happy :).
But this can be a bit more difficult when it's hardware you don't own, as it's technically harder to support it, and you don't get to directly benefit from it. So, I think that's what might have pulled off Stefan in the end. I would like to know for sure, however.
I personally tried to get a few documents a while back, but there weren't that many devices back in the day, so I might retry soon.
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