Is there a way to set a left-handed mouse pointer in Ubuntu 13.04?
For those who don't know what left-handed mouse pointers are:
MitchLeft Hand Cursors. Download32 is source for left hand cursors shareware, freeware download - YGS Virtual Piano, Tattoo Left Hand, HIDARITE - All operations with the left hand, FD Left And Right Mouse, ABC Typing lesson 01, etc. Apr 30, 2010 Finally click Ok to close the Mouse Properties dialog and accept the changes. Now your pointers will be easier to use left-handed! Whether you’re right-handed or left-handed, you can enjoy the Aero cursors in Windows 7 or Vista in the way that works best for you.
♦3 Answers
It does not seem there are many left-handed cursor themes. You have the following options:
comixcursors-lefthanded (ugly)
You have to install comixcursors-lefthanded and gcursor (gnome cursor theme managing software). Although gcursor doesn't seem to do install the theme for me it is useful to see what a cursor theme looks like.
The theme ComixCursors-LH-White-Small looks the most decent, so let's pick that one
Installation
First we need to add an extra line to the themes index.themes file. All themes are located in /usr/share/icons, and for the ComixCursors-LH-White-Small theme we need to do
This file looks like this:
Now we need to add the following line at the bottom (of course if you pick another theme, you should write the name of the other theme)
Now save and close the file.
On Ubuntu the utility update-alternatives manages the cursor themes, so we need to tell it about this new theme we want to use, execute
Now if you log out and log in again, you should have your new cursors.
Note:
You can use
to change between the installed cursor themes.
Modifying the default (DMZ-White) theme (beautiful)
The above approach works but the cursors are ugly, however you can also modify the default theme. The cursors that you use most are the normal pointer and the hand (which appears if you hover over a link):
which are /usr/share/icons/DMZ-White/cursors/left_ptr and /usr/share/icons/DMZ-White/cursors/hand2.
The DMZ-White theme also provides a pointer that points to the right, and I made my own mirrored hand using gimp (see note at the end):
The pointer is /usr/share/icons/DMZ-White/cursors/right_ptr, and mirrored hand is called hand3 and I made it available on mediafire (if you follow the instructions below, you will download it automatically to the correct directory).
Now we need to replace these cursors. First go to the DMZ-White cursor directory
Then download the hand3 cursor
Now backup the original left_ptr and hand2 files
Now let the new left_ptr and hand2 point to the right_ptr and hand3 files
Now if you log out and log in again, you should have your new (beautiful) cursors.
Note: Editing cursor files using gimp
You can edit cursor files (and make your own cursor theme :) ) using gimp which is a free alternative to Photoshop. If you want to save your file choose Export to and then pick X11 Mouse Cursor. This will save your file with the .xmc extension, but you can simply remove the extension.
In Ubuntu 15.10
Appearance > Cursor Theme
To search for alternative cursor themes:
Jonathan
JonathanYes, there is. You have to install comixcursors-lefthanded and gcursor (gnome cursor theme managing software).
Open gcursor an choose what cursor theme do you wish.
Hand Cursor Download
To set your mouse click to left-handed, see the end of this answer.