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Asked: 2018-06-30 10:54:40 +0800 CST

count keys typed and mouse clicks

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I have ubuntu 16.04.

Out of curiosity, is there a way to see how much have you clicked, and/or which keys have you pressed the most in a period?

Like a system log or something similar, that could register events in every app/program.

For now, I don't want to install a keylogger, I'm looking for some system related event first.

Example of the wanted log:

Today I have pressed

  • the left click 13.854 times
  • the Enter key 983 times
  • The Space key 15.368 times
  • The Control key 4.568 times
  • ...
events 16.04

2 Answers

  1. This answer on superuser from 2012 links to a python script that counts total keys+clicks per hour.

    However, it's python2 and didn't work for me out-of-the-box. Running 2to3 and making some ugly hacks (I'm not a Python dev), I can get it to work. A feature I'm working on adding is to have it count clicks per key/button, not just a total. Should be a pretty trivial change because that info is already in the event object.

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  2. Best Answer

    Since I couldn't find an answer here, I would say that the right answer is:

    There is no such thing in Linux/Ubuntu.

    If you want to know the amount of key strokes and clicks you did, you will have to install some third-party program, that may or may not use your information for God knows what.

    Key loggers do not have what I'm looking for: they only record the phrases I typed and the program name in a text file, like:

    15/07/2005 | MSN Messenger[4] | Text: Hey there, want to chat?<CTRL><ENTER>

    So, I would have to write a shell script to extract only the typed part, and count every letter individually. But how about mouse clicks? Function-keys?

    In other words, a key-logger does not fit my needs.

    I did manage to find another kind of program, specifically designed for this purpose, with heat maps and graphics for mouse and keys, but as I mentioned above, the download site is not that trustworthy, it isn't available in the Ubuntu market store, and it demands a Facebook login ....

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