Personally I haven’t. While Linux is imperfect, choosing the right distro makes the rest of the experience straightforward. And with it’s whole complexity, I find Linux more user friendly than Windows. Even driver issues, broken shadow file ownership and KDE specifics only made me more confident about my choice to use Linux after I solved everything.
I’ve had that Laptop and ran Arch (and other distros) on it with those working no issue. I’ve since passed it to a friend who also uses it with Debian and hasn’t complained about issues. Are you certain this is a Software issue? Are the TrackPoint and buttons actually plugged in? Do they show up?
I haven’t ruled out a physical hardware issue. The OS was detecting the device. Its not a USB device, its a PS/2 device which isn’t something I work with often. This was a few months ago so don’t recall much of what I was tried.
I’ve had Endevor then Mint on that device over a few years. I consider myself competent with Linux.
One of these days I’ll make a post and ask for help. Making a Lemmy post that Linux isn’t working with a old Thinkpad hardware is like dumping chum in shark infested waters.