Quoting: childermassTo check I understand what this means, is it just that the on-screen representation of the buttons will just be the Xbox's A, B, X, Y (or just numbers) instead of the proper symbols for a PlayStation controller? Apart from that, is it usable as you'd expect?

Correct.

Quoting: mr-victoryOur DualShock 3's are rock solid and others report positive experiences as well. Sony recently added official drivers for DS4 and DualSense but you may need to update to non LTS version of Ubuntu to pick up official drivers. Otherwise there has been community drivers in the kernel for a long time. Pick any of these depending on feature set and price as you wish, they are all plug and play.

To clarify: Sony were maintaining the driver for the DS3 & DS4, although the DS3 part started from the community. Sony then made a new driver for the Dual Sense, since it really wanted stuff that wasn't in the old driver. DS4 support is also being added to that new driver, and will ultimately be removed from the old driver. (One of them is hid-sony and the other is hid-playstation, but I can't remember offhand which is which). You don't need new anything for DS4 support - that's been there for ages. You also don't need to move off an LTS version for new Dual Sense stuff: the latest LTS gets exactly the same kernel as the newest non-LTS version.

Quoting: whizseDoesn't seem to be specific to Linux though, from what I can tell it seems to be the same on Windows. Just lazy devs I guess...

It's not exactly laziness: Microsoft heavily pushed Microsoft's controller as the "standard" controller for Microsoft's operating system, and Sony's support for PlayStation controllers on Windows wasn't as good as Sony's support for PlayStation controllers on Linux. Game devs just took the seemingly most-sensible path for the largest PC market.

Games that use Steam Input can automatically pick up the correct glyphs for the controller being used without the developer having to do anything else special, so hopefully it will be less of an issue in the future - particularly if the Deck (which is deliberately fine with Xbox glyphs because of the state of current games) nudges developers to use Steam Input.

Quoting: whizse

Quoting: childermassunless there's any difference in functionality

The DS4 comes with a gyroscope (which I don't really use) and a trackpad/mouse which does come in handy from time to time.

I, OTOH, use the gyro all the time, both on the SD and with a Sony controller. Gyro aiming is the best.

Logitech F710 forever.
It's nearly immortal, has flawless Linux/Steam support (true plug'n'play), insanely long battery life (several months with 2x AA batteries even if used daily). I've bought about 8-10 of them over many years, none has broken and my oldest one is well over a decade old.

No gyro and the triggers are a bit stiff. You get what you get and no fuss. Bonus feature, xinput/dinput switch. I typically use dinput.

Forgot to mention, the DS4 comes with RGB! Can't have a controller without RGB!

When I travel I bring with me 2x Logitech F310s wired. They are awesome. At home I use 2x Atari VCS controllers. When I go to fighting game events I use a Hori Commander. I think all 3 of these controllers are excellent.

Work on Linux for years without issue.

Quoting: Arcadius-8606When I travel I bring with me 2x Logitech F310s wired. They are awesome.

I've got one of those. Do your thumb sticks still have the rough coating? Mine has rubbed off very quickly.

Quoting: KlaasI've got one of those. Do your thumb sticks still have the rough coating? Mine has rubbed off very quickly.

Mine are still good but I also have caps I can place on it that I picked up over the years from various cons and such.

Quoting: whizse

Quoting: childermassunless there's any difference in functionality

The DS4 comes with a gyroscope (which I don't really use) and a trackpad/mouse which does come in handy from time to time.

Is the trackpad reasonably usable, then, at least for clicking on things on the desktop (e.g. in the Steam client) when not playing a game? From what I've read, there are no dedicated mouse buttons, but you tap the trackpad to click, correct? Hmm... that could come in useful occasionally.