Configuring a space mouse was way harder than it should have been. Here is the way to reproduce a "working" version.
Ignore the proprietary driver at 3dconnexion and the open source ones from spacenav. They are useful for custom programs, but useless for paraview which currently uses VRPN to lower their maintenance.
Warning: VRPN does not work if you have one of the drivers running at the same time.