[HN Gopher] Mouser: An open source alternative to Logi-Plus mous...
___________________________________________________________________
Mouser: An open source alternative to Logi-Plus mouse software
I discovered this project because all-of-a-sudden Logi Options Plus
software updater started taking 40-60% of my Intel Macbook Pro
until I killed the process (of course it restarts). In my searches
I ended up at a reddit discussion where I found other people with
same issues. I'm a minor contributor to this project but it aims
to reduce/eliminate the need to use Logitech proprietary software
and telemetry. We could use help if other people are interested.
Please check out the github link for more detailed motivations
(eliminating telemetry) as a part of this project. Here is link:
https://github.com/TomBadash/MouseControl
Author : avionics-guy
Score : 115 points
Date : 2026-03-13 18:42 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| kstrauser wrote:
| Very cool, thanks!
|
| In a similar vein, I've been using SteerMouse
| (https://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/) in the same way for many
| years, for the same reasons. Logi's hardware is nice, but their
| software just freaking sucks the electrons out of a battery. It's
| awful. I refuse to run their driver aka mini-OS just to do the
| right thing when I click a button with my thumb.
| Groxx wrote:
| I haven't had a Mac in about a year, but SteerMouse had been
| installed on all of them for well over a decade prior to that.
| Excellent software.
| dvdplm wrote:
| Thank you. I'm constantly baffled by the terrible quality of
| Logitech's software. Such great hardware and such horrible
| software. Very much needed an oss alternative.
| Retr0id wrote:
| I'm also baffled by the quality of their hardware, their mice
| are all coated in a type of rubber that turns to goop after a
| few years.
| SparkyMcUnicorn wrote:
| I use the g305, and have to replace it roughly once a year
| because the scroll button eventually stops working. I've been
| through 5-6 of them. Regularly on sale for around $25.
|
| Wish I could find a better mouse I like as much as this one
| that I didn't need to pay a yearly subscription for. It's
| just the right size, lightweight, wireless, and being able to
| store the customizations to on board memory is nice.
| w0m wrote:
| humans are naturally slimy. Anything you touch for 8h/day
| will be slimy in turn. Some of us are slimier than others.
| Sindisil wrote:
| Huh. Haven't experienced that myself, having used a Master MX
| for several years (now in use by my wife), a VX Revolution
| for a few years before that (now my son's backpack mouse),
| and a Master MX Vertical most recently. My son has gone
| through several other Logi mice as his primary mice, too, but
| they've died of either worn out switches or feet (he's an
| avid gamer).
|
| Not trying to invalidate your experience -- I've see with my
| own eyes a similar thing happen with rubberized coatings on
| laptops & keyboard wrist rests (other's not my own).
|
| Just putting it out there that it's by no means the universal
| experience.
| Retr0id wrote:
| I have wondered if my skin oils are somehow naturally more
| caustic than average.
| Onavo wrote:
| I think they fixed it in their latest MX4, it's silicone
| (I think?) now instead of rubber.
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/logitech/comments/1nq2luo/got_th
| e_m...
| Retr0id wrote:
| Damn, I replaced my MX2 with an MX3 fairly recently...
| Gigachad wrote:
| I wish products would just give up on these rubberised
| materials. They always turn to goop over time. Unless it's a
| part designed to be easily user replaced, just stick to hard
| plastic.
| flexagoon wrote:
| For Linux users, there is Piper[1] based on their libratbag
| library[2], which supports the majority of mice
|
| [1]: https://github.com/libratbag/piper/
|
| [2]: https://github.com/libratbag/libratbag
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| And Solaar! https://github.com/pwr-Solaar/Solaar
| whalesalad wrote:
| I use this to manage my unifying receiver. I don't think I
| have touched it once in years, just works.
| SV_BubbleTime wrote:
| Another vote here. MX keys and mouse and Linux Mint. Love
| it, set up once and have never touched it since.
| sys_64738 wrote:
| Agreed. I found it so avoided having to install the
| Logitech spyware anywhere. I won't make that mistake twice.
| car wrote:
| For posterity, I can very much recommend MacMousefix. It's $2.99
| to own, totally worth it to me. Open source.
|
| https://macmousefix.com/en/
|
| Also available via brew: brew install mac-mouse-
| fix
|
| And on Github too:
|
| https://github.com/noah-nuebling/mac-mouse-fix
| gumby271 wrote:
| That's pretty cool, I've been wanting something like this so I
| don't have to reach for the touchpad on my Mac all the time.
| But I gotta say, I did NOT expect to be scrolling in the Z axis
| all of a sudden on that site!
| lwhi wrote:
| I tried this, and it's nice .. but it did let me programme all
| the buttons on my Logitech MX Vertical.
| TyrunDemeg101 wrote:
| Holy crap, just tried this and I was skeptical, but it sold me
| within minutes. This truly is great!
| y-curious wrote:
| Is there anything like this for the MX Ergo? I would be very
| interested in any software-based "hacks" for the mouse.
| touwer wrote:
| LinearMouse on macos is also good. With Mos
| sys_64738 wrote:
| Love Linear Mouse.
| wolrah wrote:
| Currently only for MX Master 3S, for anyone with other Options-
| controlled mice getting their hopes up.
| joshu wrote:
| how is it that logitech software is such awful trash
| bigjay517 wrote:
| I find that Logi Options+ mostly just stays hidden and works. It
| does use more RAM than I'd like (125.8MB right now). When it does
| break it's disruptive, or they add some feature I don't want.
|
| - AI Prompting (enabled by default)
|
| - Auto update stuck wasting CPU cycles
|
| - The recent certificate issue
|
| I'd like to find a replacement because I am annoyed by it, but I
| have not found a replacement that matches ALL of the features I
| use from Options+.
|
| I keep the default settings in Options+ but in my testing I can't
| match all the same behavior with the 3rd party solutions:
|
| - Pointer acceleration
|
| - Workspace switching speed
|
| - Smooth scrolling speed / acceleration
|
| Scrolling is usually my main problem where scrolling in one
| direction jumps in the wrong direction first before correcting.
| This is most noticeable when scrolling line by line.
|
| I've tested all the 3rd party options mentioned here(with the
| exception of Mouser). Does anyone else have these problems with
| the 3rd party alternatives?
| jordwest wrote:
| I've been using the offline version of Options+ that somebody
| recommended me a while back, it removes AI and auto updating
| and has done the job for me.
|
| It's kind of hidden on their website but you can grab it here:
|
| https://hub.sync.logitech.com/options/post/logi-options-offl...
|
| That said I think this will be my last Logitech device. They're
| just not very durable products and die too quickly
| paularmstrong wrote:
| Thanks for pointing this out. I had no idea it existed. The
| other options in the comments just didn't quite work the way
| I would like.
|
| - The main topic requires me to pull python dependencies,
| build, run manually on Mac - All others can't reassign the
| button below the scroll wheel on the MX Master 3/4
| itopaloglu83 wrote:
| I switched to the offline version right after Logitech
| forcefully and without my permission downloaded and installed
| bunch of crap software on my Mac. I was furious that a stupid
| mouse driver app has the right to install a random crapware.
| I'm still fuming about it when I remember it.
| crooked-v wrote:
| > It does use more RAM than I'd like (125.8MB right now).
|
| For me it regularly ballooned to 1+ GB somehow, until I removed
| it entirely in favor of BetterMouse.
| pprotas wrote:
| Another alternative (apparently the Logi software is so bad that
| it spawned many of these): BetterMouse. It supports my MX Master
| 4 https://better-mouse.com/
| rcarmo wrote:
| This is pretty awesome - I have another Logitech mouse (the
| smaller, more pragmatic M720) and was looking for a way to ditch
| Logi Options+, which is insanely bloated for what it does. I
| suspect adapting this will take an hour or so with an LLM...
| Razengan wrote:
| Missed opportunity to call it Jerry
| joemi wrote:
| Might still be worth it considering Mouser (the electronics
| supplier) is already a (pretty big) thing.
| Gigachad wrote:
| I wonder if this or anything else can pair devices to the
| unifying receiver. That's the only reason I ever use the Logitech
| app.
| armadyl wrote:
| FYI Logitech also offers an air gapped version of Options+ which
| cuts out a lot of the slop and telemetry in the normal version:
| https://prosupport.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/10991109278871...
|
| If you have to use Options that's probably the way to go (if none
| of the third party options work for you).
| itopaloglu83 wrote:
| If you run it through command line you get some additional
| features you can turn off or selectively turn on.
|
| I'm still pissed beyond words that they used the driver
| software as an excuse and installed crapware on my Mac when
| they released the AI version.
| lwhi wrote:
| I dumped my Logitech MX Vertical mouse because of that lousy
| software.
|
| This seems like a great idea.
| pants2 wrote:
| Nice! Is there a similar option for Logitech Webcams?
| schnacki wrote:
| BetterTouchTool has also recently added full Logitech support
| (keyboard & mouse) and it has been working great for me. (Fully
| replaces the Logitech Options+ and/or Ghub apps).
|
| Especially the smooth scroll modifier available in BTT (not
| exclusive to Logitech mice) has helped me a lot, it transforms
| any mouses scroll events into trackpad like scrolling events that
| allow for e.g. page swipes, mail archive, scrolling in calendar
| etc. - things that usually only work with Magic Mouse or Apple
| Trackpads
| pier25 wrote:
| The Logi Options app is such a piece of crap. On macOS it also
| requires special permissions otherwise it won't even work.
|
| If you only need to connect a device to the Bolt adapter you can
| use this web app by Logitech without having to install anything:
|
| https://logiwebconnect.com/
| stevenpetryk wrote:
| I'm always afraid of the day Logitech takes this away. Somebody
| should try to make an open source deploy of this too.
| stanac wrote:
| It's probably the only program I despise, but need. I want to
| use small button under the wheel as middle click (I have short
| fingers), and until now, the only way to do it is/was to use
| logi options+. LO+ updater will get stuck on update every
| couple of months and while it's updating my button
| configuration doesn't work. Solution? kill process, uninstall,
| reinstall and hope it will not get stuck again any time soon.
|
| I have to test Mauser.
|
| While I am here, can anyone recommend good alternative mouse
| with both smooth/quick and precision scroll like logitech's?
| Back and forth buttons are also a must for me, horizontal
| scroll optional. Ideally a mouse would save configuration onto
| itself, so I don't have rely on garbage software like LO+.
| y-curious wrote:
| My friend used to work at Logitech. Everyone in the trenches
| knows the software they pump out is trash, but the higher ups
| are somehow convinced that it "sets them apart". I assume they
| think it sets them apart in a good way, but it's quite the
| opposite.
| kej wrote:
| An update to the Logitech software last year added a fast way to
| access some kind of Logitech AI, but made it so the combination
| of mouse and dongle I was using no longer worked together. It was
| kind of a parable for the whole industry lately.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2026-03-13 23:00 UTC)