A long-standing Linux behavior is under threat as GNOME and Mozilla review a proposal to disable middle-mouse paste.
  • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
    13·
    16 days ago

    WTF?

    And the reason is bullshit.
    User confusion… You maybe get confused once or twice, after that you just start using it as it is incredibly convenient.

    Only confusion happens when I have to use Windows and it doesn’t work any more…

  • plyth@feddit.orgBannedEnglish
    8·
    16 days ago

    It’s the best thing, keep the middle-mouse paste. Have some confidence in the Unix way of doing UX. It’s called UX, not WX.

  • FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish
    6·
    16 days ago

    I’m gonna be honest, I don’t like middle-mouse paste because I use the middle mouse for too much other stuff, and because it goes alongside select to copy, which tends to overwrite the paste buffer at the least convenient time.

    But turning it off (by default) because it’s not how Windows does it is fucking stupid. It’s exactly the kind of stupid decision GNOME has been making for decades, and why I no longer use it. I just hope it won’t be yet another subtle difference in behaviour between gtk and Qt apps.

    • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
      4·
      16 days ago

      which tends to overwrite the paste buffer

      Isn’t it a different buffer?

      At least on my KDE system I can use Ctrl-C and select-middle-mouse in parallel without them overwriting each other.

      • FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        16 days ago

        It’s different from the Ctrl-C buffer, but selecting overwrites the middle-mouse paste buffer, so you have to delete text you want to replace before going to the place you’re copying it from.

  • Ediacarium@feddit.org
    6·
    16 days ago

    Seems like people agree in the Mozilla thread, that they should simply follow gtk (if they change it): https://phabricator.services.mozilla.com/D277804

    GNOME/gtk on the other hand is apparently all for it (and immediately restricted the discussion to project members): https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gsettings-desktop-schemas/-/merge_requests/119

    My favorite argument: Because Linux has less marketshare than Windows and OSX, more users (wo might never use Linux (or GNOME)) are not expecting the middle-mouse-paste, so it should be disabled by default…

    • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      16 days ago

      So… what does a Windows user expect?
      Isn’t there just no standard behaviour at all?

      And I always had in mind that Macs only used two mouse buttons. Has that changed?

      • lost_faith@lemmy.ca
        2·
        15 days ago

        As an ex-windows user, I expected middle click to allow me to scroll pages up, down, left, and right just by moving my “mouse” instead of scrolling with the wheel. Not sure I’ll ever get used to using it as paste but linux evolved a shit tonne since I was using it in 2k.

        • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
          1·
          15 days ago

          Once you are a slightly advanced user, middle-click-paste is a pretty essential feature, as the Ctrl-v combo doesn’t work in a terminal.
          So removing that default feature might appeal a little bit to some of the newcomers, but potentially makes life harder for them in the mid- to long run.

          • lost_faith@lemmy.ca
            3·
            15 days ago

            Oh, I use shift-insert on command line (or right click -paste now), I did use linux back in 2k and got annoyed when the insert key was removed from some kbs. I do understand and I think it was my post higher in this thread, should be a toggle if anything, don’t piss off the old guard. I do hate change just for the sake of change, make a change that improves for everyone not just a small group

            • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
              2·
              15 days ago

              Agree with that!

              I never used the insert key much, as it is really missing (or hidden at some function key level) on half of the keyboards I use.

      • Ediacarium@feddit.org
        2·
        16 days ago

        Idk, most Windows users expect Linux to be for hackers only and won’t switch. So, I think, we mostly have power users using Linux and they should be expecting this behaviour.

        A standard between OSes? No, I don’t think so. Even Chromium and Firefox differ slightly, according to someone in the Mozilla thread. Pressing the middle mouse button in Edge doesn’t open a Link in a new Window, you just get the weird page scroll thing.

        I don’t know about macs, never really used one. But didn’t they even try a single button mouse with a touch surface on top? (the magic mouse?)