fedora-kde / SIG

#681 Disable "middle-click-paste" by default for Plasma 6.7
Opened by sfaulken. Modified

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Historically, many Linux Desktops shipped with a default behavior, with highlighting text with the mouse cursor would put that text into a buffer, and pressing the "Middle Mouse Button" (often pressing the mouse wheel on modern pointing devices) would paste that text at the mouse cursor.

This behavior doesn't exist in Windows or MacOS, and most new users of Fedora KDE Edition have no idea it even exists.

This causes a few issues, such as:

  • Unexpected pasting of text when clicking the middle button
  • Pasting of text from whatever buffer this older behavior is using, rather than from the "Clipboard" which can confuse users
  • Interfering with other expected middle-click behaviors in some applications (autoscroll in Firefox, for example

Given the change of landscape in the Linux Desktop, I propose that we disable this behavior by default. It is easily re-enableable by users that find this "middle-click-paste" behavior useful for their workflows, by going to "System Settings->General Behavior->Middle-click" and selecting the checkbox

(Split from https://pagure.io/fedora-kde/SIG/issue/11)

It can also be a security nightmare, where people paste things inadvertently that they didn't know they were going to paste. I have done it a couple of times, and I've heard stories from other people who have too.

Given that it's super easy to re-enable if you want it, I think it's worth making the change.

+1

Metadata Update from @ngompa:
- Issue tagged with: experience

Metadata Update from @ngompa:
- Issue tagged with: meeting-request

There is a concern I have we should probably test: does GTK respect if we toggle this off? And what about X11 applications? Does Xwayland discard the primary selection buffer if we switch this off?

These should be tested, and if it doesn't work properly, bugs should be filed.

I'm +1 for doing that. I'm a heavy user of the selection buffer + middle click paste but there have been tons of time where this did not work properly and I've pasted the wrong thing or pasted things inadvertently.

However it's too late for F44 so that would be for F45.

Yeah, we'd do this with Plasma 6.7 specifically.

Metadata Update from @ngompa:
- Issue set to the milestone: KDE Plasma 6.7

However it's too late for F44 so that would be for F45.

Changed the title, just to make this clear.

We're targeting Plasma 6.7 rather than a specific Fedora release, updated accordingly.

"It is easily re-enableable by users that find this "middle-click-paste" behavior useful for their workflows"
Well, I do hope it stays available because I do use it, it's easier than select text, right-click and chose copy, move to another place, right-click again and now select paste.
Just my opinion.
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experience meeting-request

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