This is what I looked for and finally found. If you are like me and dislike the touchpad creating havoc when you are typing and you have a mouse that you use instead of the touchpad.
Go here:
https://www.maketecheasier.com/disable-touchpad-on-startup-linux/
Errm, there are config options in KDE Plasma systemsettings to that end. Startup desktop files do have their uses, though. I mute audio, trigger autofs, and move browser cache to ramdisk this way.
That assumes the use of the synaptics driver. For the most-part, libinput has replaced both evdev and synaptics Xorg input drivers, and DEs typically have options to inhibit touchpads anyway.
There’s an explicit setting for this in KDE.
Configure Desktop –> Input Devices –> Touchpad –> Enable/Disable Touchpad
Set it to disable the touchpad when a mouse is plugged in.
It works great. The existence of that setting is the main reason that I use KDE.
Thanks for the info. My find doesn’t seem to work but for a little while. Now a question… Do I have to do this enable/disable touchpad every time I boot my laptop or just once?
Just once.
And yes, it is a bit hard to find the setting.
When you get into the touchpad settings, it isn’t visible. Or, at least, it isn’t visible for me. I have to click a “>” to move further to the right. I usually just maximize that settings window to make it easier to find.
I did that setting when I first installed 42.3. I have not had to touch it since. And if I really want to use the touchpad, I can just unplug the mouse (or the mouse wireless receiver). I guess I would do that if traveling, and the mouse battery ran out.