Some projects keep surprising me with their “solutions,” and this is one of those cases. A proposal under review by developers from GNOME and Mozilla could change how middle-mouse-button paste behaves on Linux and other Unix-like systems.
The discussions, visible in Mozilla’s Phabricator revision D277804 and a linked GNOME gsettings-desktop-schemas merge request, focus on disabling the traditional primary selection paste by default.
Mozilla proposes changing the default behavior of the Firefox browser on Unix builds so that pressing the middle mouse button no longer pastes text by default. The author of the revision frames the current behavior as a source of confusion and accidental pastes, especially when users press the middle button without expecting the clipboard contents to be inserted into text fields.
As part of the same change discussion, there is an associated GNOME merge request that would update the default schema for the GTK interface (the setting that controls whether primary selection paste is enabled) to align with the proposed Firefox behavior. The GNOME merge request is currently under review and not yet merged.
For your information only, this middle-mouse paste (technically the primary selection mechanism) is a fundamental, both technically and culturally, long-standing convention in Unix graphical environments, where selecting text automatically loads it into a special buffer that pastes with the middle button. It originates in the X Window System, where text selection and clipboard handling were deliberately separated.
Probably millions of Linux/Unix users (I am one of them) find this behavior useful and efficient, particularly for rapid text transfer between terminals and applications. Additionally, for many users (I am one of them, again), especially developers and system administrators, middle-click paste became muscle memory.
At the same time, let’s not forget something important: this behavior has, over time, or to be more specific, for the last 30+ years, become part of Linux and Unix’s very DNA. It’s woven into how these systems are used and understood. Changing it now isn’t just a small tweak. It’s crossing a red line.
I’m honestly baffled. These are two companies that are clearly past their best days, largely because of a string of controversial decisions in recent years that have pushed many users toward alternatives that feel more reasonable and do not attempt to re-educate users’ behavior.
You would think there would be enough common sense to realize that, instead of charging faster toward the edge of a cliff, it might be wiser to stop, turn around, and actually look at what users really want and value, and maybe, just maybe, try to bring a few things back to normal. Disabling middle-click paste? I truly can’t imagine who thought that would be an “improvement.”
Expectably, the proposal has already prompted some pushback from reviewers, who note (completely reasonably) that removing or disabling a decades-old feature used routinely by many Linux/Unix desktop users could disrupt workflows.
No decisions have been finalized on either the Mozilla revision or the GNOME schema change. Both remain open for further revisions and community feedback. You can be sure I’ll be following the situation closely and will keep you informed of any developments.
How is Gnome representing Linux in these discussions with Firefox?
Gnome isn’t even the most used DE, and it’s lost momentum and market share in last few years. It’s becoming almost 2nd-tier at this point. They shouldn’t be the voice of Linux even if they were still relevant.
This is ridiculous. It’s as if Dacia (same cheap and featureless mindset as Gnome) were to represent the automobile sector.
Man, this feature is the worst, scrolling through text and randomly pasting text is annoying at best and a security risk at worst. There is no across the board way to turn it off, so turning it off by default would at least be a step in the right direction. Old hat users that love it are welcome to turn it back on (but do you guys never use your scroll wheels?)
Always use the scroll and NEVER accidently pasted . You need a new mouse. This is a must have for all OSes. But the ability to turn it off should be available.
Never had a problem scrolling the wheel without clicking it. I don’t get what the problem is.
Sure, I use it every day..
I scroll the little wheel up or down depending on where I wanna scroll to, and then. This is the kicker.. The I press down on the wheen, when I wanna paste stuff, it’s super easy and nifty.
Then, get this, you can turn the dumb setting on if you want to use that setting. It should be super easy and nifty.
So many people failing to read. The proposal is to turn it off **by default**
That means that there will be a setting to turn it back on for the people who actually want it on, and the large number of people who do not can have it that way more easily
The middle mouse button paste is essential to me 🥹
I can copy two different text in the same time. May they make it optional that can be enabled or disabled by Gnome settings 🙏
I really hope they keep it
Then… turn it on?
That middle click shit paste got in my way multiple times. I don’t believe that the mouse wheel should be a button at all, it should just spin – it’s simply not ergonomic.
It seems extremely unlikely they’d totally remove this behavior. Will they default it off on new installs and make an easy-to-find toggle switch in system settings? Yes. Will your life be the same? Also yes.
That being said…Gnome makes some really interesting decisions. Some might call them foolish.
Unlikely? Like removing desktop icons entirely? Don’t underestimate the stupidity and self-centrism of Gnome developers.
If their developers don’t use something, then in their self-centered heads no one should use it, therefore it might be removed. This has been their philosophy since Gnome 3.
It’s a DE that is pushed from developers, contrary to good DEs which are pulled from users. So, don’t get your hopes too high.
“People that know about this functionality and really love this functionality can easily override the setting.”
Im going to be on the other side here. It should default to off and have a toggle in easily under a setting for productivity..
Some of the comments here again start just solidify the opinion that one or the biggest things holding Linux back is the linux community and the hardcore purists . Want more prople adopting the OS? You gotta start realizing that a ton of the stuff done the way of linux is just off putting
I use middle click paste every day, and can not think of any reason to remove it. Users are not that stupid, sometimes things work different that expected, and one needs to adapt. Please fix things that are broken, not break things that are fixed, and have been for 30 years.
It is not broken for you, but it is broken for many others. Having an easy to find option fixes it for everyone.
“People that know about this functionality and really love this functionality can easily override the setting.”
You have suggested to every single person who says why they like this feature they should just go turn it on. But, why do you hate this idea? Why don’t you just turn it off?
It isn’t hard. Just remap Button3 on your mouse to null or something.
I can tell you the number of windows escapees I’ve seen convert full time to Linux because of little things like discovering middle mouse click paste and sloppy focus continually surprises me. Why make Linux as boring as windows by default?
If there is to be a bright future for Linux computing, you old hands are going to have the hardest time living in it.
It’s been a full year of Linux for me, though I dabbled with it in my youth. Middle mouse paste combined with selected text loading into the clipboard are the stupidest features I have come across in my lifetime of computing. I’ve lost count of how many times I have accidentally pasted a block of code into an unrelated file unintentionally and unknowingly while scrolling, or sensitive text into a search bar or comment field to be uploaded god knowns where whether I wanted it leaving my computer or not.
Should this be the default? I don’t know. Should it be optional? Absolutely. There should be two boxed in the mouse settings of every desktop environment, one for middle mouse paste and one for selection clipboard, to disarm this privacy landmine.
If productivity is so important to you, why are you using a mouse to edit text in the first place? I thought all the power users were using vim and emacs.
It’s easier to block something than to add it back. Block != remove.
I am still wondering at which point Gnome devs will decide that clicking or typing is passe and thus remove this functionality altogether. I’m sorry to say, but these guys and girls are nuts.
Let them change whatever they want on their desktop environment level, but leave fundamentals alone. Block it in your desktop if you wish and stop creating artificial problems.
Exactly.
I’m really thinking people using Gnome just watch their desktop the whole day and do nothing with it. It is simply impossible to do basic use cases or workflows with it as it has been stripped down to a bare desktop. In most of their apps, you can barely do the core use case at this point. The worst being Loupe and Nautilus. None of these can fulfill their core use case, as I can no longer properly manage files in Nautilus (like I can in Nemo, Dolphin, Thunar or Cosmic Files).
This is stripped down, dumbed down (to dimwit level) and featureless at this point.
Before moving to Cosmic, I remember I had up to 20 extensions on Gnome, 5 of them were fancy optional stuff (Wobbly Windows, Blur My Shell, etc…), but 15 of them were so I could just fulfill my basic workflow.
Assume for a second we take this person at their word: “Middle paste click is a source of confusion for users”
This implies that there have been complaints.
This is a pseudo-problem. So the default behavior will change. Likely scenario will be that there will be a config option to turn it back on. Do we honestly expect people (who have muscle memory from using Linux) are going to be incapable of tweaking a config setting?
Is this really a “red line”? The same people that want Linux to become the dominant OS seem to be outwardly hostile to any usability changes that might actually make the OS more inviting. This is especially nonsensical considering that Linux is, by direction and core values, the most customizable OS on the planet.
I have used Linux for years and I am glad they are considering removing this as the default behavior because IT’S A SEV
(Cont) IT’S A SECURITY RISK
I am a long time old Linux user, I started with GNUstep, then fluxbox then the original Gnome. I switched from Gnome to KDE when Gnome became ‘shell’.
As the author said, middle click paste is in my muscular memory, and I use it as a second temporary clipboard when I have to copy/paste something quick.
I don’t like the direction Gnome shell has taken and I don’t think disabling middle click paste is a good idea.
at least, if you can have it back with some setting, it could just be annoying for 5 minutes.
First, GNOME is not a corporation.
Second, while I am used to using the middle mouse button for copy/paste myself and find it useful, I can see where they come from. On the one hand, it’s confusing to have two separate copy/paste mechanisms. On the other, using the middle mouse button to initiate scrolling is also a very useful feature on desktop PCs.
Thanks to Microsoft, many new users are now coming from Windows to Linux and they will very likely find this situation unpleasant. Accidentally pasting text by clicking the middle mouse button or tapping on the touchpad with 3 fingers is an annoying thing I experienced myself as well.
First, GNOME Foundation is a non-profit corporation. https://foundation.gnome.org/
Credibility is earned incrementally with every true statement, and lost in full with a single false statement.
You can use autoscroll without middle click pasting,
The cited document “GNOME gsettings-desktop-schemas merge request” literally starts with “X11ism”. If you like to understand why and what these people are doing, watch the video with the title “Analyzing Xorg neglect and XLibre slander” at Youtube.
Please listen carefully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CdATnuTdUk
Firefox used to have native support for X11 back in the early days of the web when it was called NCSA Mosaic (NCSA Mosaic eventually became Firefox). Firefox only supports GTK. GTK is not X11.
GTK utilizes X11 only to access the memory of the graphics adapter through memory block transfers. That is why the user interface of GTK applications like Firefox on Linux is slow.
IBM RedHat is behind Wayland, GTK, and GNOME. They are doing everything (see the video) to push their desktop for Linux, their product. They literally destroy all that is “X11ism” and they find plenty of useful idiots. It is their business model.
That cannot be good for the future of Linux on the desktop.
100% agree with you there. They have a NIH issue, they want to take control of all the big chunks of Linux in any way they can, and they go at great lengths pouring millions in marketing (paid trolls, bots, etc…) to try and extinguish/deface/discredit any alternative (99% of the time better) solution to their half-assed somehow always crappy software.
They’re the most toxic company in the Linux world, and in my opinion even worse than Microsoft.
Actually, Mozilla came from Netscape; Internet Explorer was Mosaic…
Sort of.
IE was built on *Spyglass Mosaic*, a fork of NCSA Mosaic.
Netscape did, in fact, release a browser called Mosaic in 1994. (Later versions call it Netscape Mosaic.)
NSCA then *sued* Netscape, at which point THEN Netscape renamed their browser to (Netscape) Navigator.
Firefox originates from Phoenix, which was by and large developed *in tandem* with Mozilla (the browser) but I don’t think Phoenix/Firefox actually shared any code with Mozilla; they just had a similar UI early on.
Netscape/Mozilla code became SeaMonkey. Firefox kept the backend for a while and used a different frontend.
Dang it.
s/NSCA/NCSA/g
I scroll a liitle in the comments on the request merge in gnome’s gitlab (by following the link inside this article). And here is a diamond i found:
(quoting from a gnome dev)”If we assume the Linux desktop has 4% market share, and assume the highly improbable fact that all of those 4% know how to use middle click paste and prefer it over the alternative autoscrolling, that’s still 96% of users that are used to environments where autoscrolling is available and middle click paste doesn’t exist.So we should default middle click paste to off”.
That speaks a ton of how they see linux users. In a nutshell, they don’t give a dime for them.
Indeed, it’s red line crossing. Firstly, Gnome and Mozilla will remove a useful feature no one complains about. Secondly, they will do it without taking users’ opinions into account. Thirdly, what will prevent them from removing other features later? One small click action removal can then lead to… what? Both companies tend to favor Microsoftish behaviour when making decisions and that’s alarming. Microsoft is degrading their product. Gnome has already considerably crippled their desktop which is now hard to use without extensions. Mozilla took a hostile bend a year ago with their new privacy policy and is heading towards AI integration with users worried about how it will be implemented. Sometimes I think both companies have some secret connection to big private corporations. There are connections anyway. As an afterthought, If Gnome removes the middle click option from Gtk, in the long term it might affect other desktop environments such as Cinnamon, Xfce and Mate. Gtk could be forked ofc, but I doubt it would.
What exactly you say is “crippled” in Gnome? And what is “hard to use” without extensions? I use Gnome for more than 5 years at this point and it’s a good experience overall. I’d only wish it improved faster.
I had no idea this was a feature, I thought I was experiencing a weird bug. If middle-mouse paste is removed I will be happy.
>You would think there would be enough common sense to realize that, instead of charging faster toward the edge of a cliff, it might be wiser to stop, turn around, and actually look at what users really want…
I’m sorry. What? Why would anybody think that? 🙂
Hard pass. Middle click to paste is a longstanding productivity feature.
Anybody thinking about removing it is dangerously ill-informed and knows not what they do.