Middle-Click Paste? Not For Long

An anonymous reader writes "Select to copy and middle-click to paste. That's very convenient usability feature associated with UNIX graphical environments. But it is confusing for new users, so the ability to middle-click paste was briefly removed from GNOME 3.10. It was restored few days later, but with clear message: middle-click paste will be permanently removed from next GNOME version." I hope that "we'll defer this change until the next cycle" also means that it's getting re-thought, rather than just delayed.

Comments

Probably a good thing

[Dan East]

The mouse is a hardware interface to a virtual construct within the GUI - the mouse pointer. With the exception of the middle-button "paste" functionality, all the other controls are generic interactions into the virtual environment ("touch" the object under the pointer, get extended options for the object under the pointer, scroll the area under the pointer, etc). Binding such an abstract and specific editing command such as "paste" to the mouse is not a good practice in the first place. It should be optional or application specific and not defined as paste by default in the WM in general.