evdev (short for 'event device') is a generic input event interface in theLinux kernel andFreeBSD.[1] It generalizes raw input events fromdevice drivers and makes them available throughcharacter devices in the/dev/input/ directory.
The user-space library for the kernel component evdev is called libevdev. Libevdev abstracts the evdevioctls through type-safe interfaces and provides functions to change the appearance of the device. Libevdev shares similarities with theread system call.[2]
It sits below the process that handles input events, in between the kernel and that process.
ForWeston/Wayland compositor, the stack would look like this:
Since version 1.16 the xorg-xserver obtained support for libinput:
evdev is primarily used bydisplay servers likeX.org (via xf86-input-evdev driver and libevdev) and Weston, as well as by games and console emulators making use of USB and Bluetooth controllers.
