A long-standing Linux behavior is under threat as GNOME and Mozilla review a proposal to disable middle-mouse paste.
  • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
    14·
    3 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…

    • Eheran@lemmy.world
      7·
      3 days ago

      The middle mouse is important for browsing. I understand and see how that can cause issues. This is not about Windows, it is about the browser and this specific feature.

      • eiri@sopuli.xyz
        1·
        8 hours ago

        I mean, middle click seems to open links in tabs fine here, even though I have paste on it as well.

        So I don’t see that there is a problem there? Except in the use case of side-scrolling by clicking the middle button - is that a thing?

      • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
        6·
        3 days ago

        So just give apps an easy option to override the system default.
        No need to change the established and pretty much standardized default behaviour of the whole OS.

      • naeap@sopuli.xyz
        3·
        3 days ago

        Aren’t those different elements?

        (Text) Input element - pastes with middle click Hyperlinks - open in new tab “Empty space”/background/text - maybe use for the scroll thingy, I’ve never used

        I don’t really see the problem here, or do I miss something?

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

          I think you can use it for side-scrolling or page-moving(???) or so.
          Somewhat exotic, I don’t think I know anyone who uses the middle button for anything other than the standard mouse-wheel vertical scrolling, which has nothing to do with pressing the middle button.

          • lost_faith@lemmy.ca
            2·
            2 days ago

            Due to the way my browser is laid out I do need the scroll right-left, I miss a chunk of info on the right of some pages making me use the ity bity scroll bar at the bottom of the page. I did stop trying after my 3rd time in a month clicking the wheel now I just don’t do it. A toggle would be better than changing an action so many of you have ingrained, I can’t see myself ever getting used to this action as I prefer to hot key my way through copy/paste/etc. Don’t mess with the old guard to gain new users, you will only lose

  • FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    3 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·
      3 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·
        2 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.

  • plyth@feddit.orgEnglish
    8·
    3 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.

  • Ediacarium@feddit.org
    6·
    3 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·
      3 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·
        2 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·
          2 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·
            2 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·
              2 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·
        3 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?)