I understand that Ubuntu Budgie is aimed at desktop users and not touch-screen devices, but to not have a onscreen keyboard seems odd, especially when the mainline Ubuntu distribution has a perfectly functional one.
So I am wondering where is the onscreen keyboard? It does not appear in any instance when the option is checked in the accessibility settings.
Is this a problem specific to my system? If so, what is the default on screen keyboard package called?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Hi and welcome.
I think you are referring to the onboard package
I have never used it myself.
Why would a desktop need to use an onscreen keyboard?
Imagine if your keyboard failed while you were doing some sort of operation on your desktop. It may come handy then.
It’s the sort of thing that is hardly ever used, but when it is it is invaluable.
I’ve actually tried onboard on my budgie system and it was completely unusable.
So stock Ubuntu budgie does not have a onscreen keyboard?
Its not something anyone has investigated.
More than happy for anyone to look how to integrate this better.
I think I lack to skill set to look into it sorry haha.
I will confess I am using budgie on a 2 in 1 laptop. 
Which explains my interest in the onscreen keyboard.
I understand that laptop users aren’t the priority. I enjoy the budgie DE and accept that I might have to sacrifice usability. The lack of on screen keyboard seems strange considering, mainline Ubuntu has a perfectly configured onboard.
Thanks for your attention!
I might be missing something, but tried onboard on my touchscreen. What is not working? it has an extensive settings section and does what it should without a single issue here.
Was it a kind of minimal install ?
I found that when it was floating it would appear behind the application menu and in all the wrong places for other applications. I did not try the mode where the keyboard is docked to the bottom of the screen though.
I also tried the feature where it would only appear when the user is using the touchscreen - that wouldn’t work. Mainline Ubuntu can do that fine - sorry I keep making this comparison, I guess as far as I understand, budgie also uses the gnome shell and so I would assume features would work on both unless you’ve taken something away.
As far as I’m aware I installed a complete install
No. Budgie does not use any element of gnome shell.
Budgie is completely written in a compiled language… very fast compared to the interpreted and slow gnome shell interface.
No. Onboard is an independent project. It’s not written for a specific interface.
OK Budgie doesn’t use the Gnome shell. But it does use a number of Gnome packages, including the settings that include a switch that refers to an on screen keyboard.
I understand it’s not a high priority and am not asking for anything. I’ve had my questions answered. I’ll continue with onboard and maybe I can get it working.
Thanks for your time
No worries and thanks for raising the issue around onboard.
Hopefully someone from the community can run with this and nail down what needs to be done to fully integrate onboard
Same issue goes on in latest LTS version too. I tried it yesterday on my lenovo yoga 2-in-1. I tried onboard with different settings but fail to resolve the issue. 1-2 times it appeared than disappeared. Hope they add this functionality in next version.
onboard is now a dead project - there is no one that is actively maintaining it.
There are new projects looking at similar capabilities but I don’t know of their status nor how they should be integrated.
As I mentioned in 2019 … this needs someone who understands this area to help to integrate and resolve issues.
I’ve tried several times in the past(1998(suse), 2010(ubuntu) and years later Budgie. I’m suprised to see how linux developed. But seems like Budgie needs a big lift up for desktop environment.
Since I installed it(3weeks ago), I try to discover as much as I can. I am actually quite happy how fast it works but noticed that Gnome and KDE provides better gesture support for desktop environment as well as onscreen keyboard. I’ll stick with Budgie for awhile more… hope they come with something until than.