Hot take: good riddance.
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Hot take: good riddance. I dislike the middle click thing. Trips me up all the time as someone who accidentally clicks it when scrolling.
I think the right move is to make this (undoubtedly useful to some) behavior opt-in, not opt-out.
A lot of the gripes I see are just people being mad because GNOME makes choices they don't like. I don't understand why people write like this about GNOME, if you don't like it don't use it, your emotions make you look petty, etc etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
@vkc
My feelings exactly!! I love GNOME and if I didn't, I would just move to a different distro. Simple as that. -
@vkc@linuxmom.net I'm not a fan of it either, never have been, it's also really hard to disable, even when switched off in Gnone, it still works in Firefox and the Terminal (in Ubuntu) and you can't disable it easily there
I think I heard it's an XORG thing, so maybe Wayland will change that, or it will be easier to control from Gnome, idk -
Hot take: good riddance. I dislike the middle click thing. Trips me up all the time as someone who accidentally clicks it when scrolling.
I think the right move is to make this (undoubtedly useful to some) behavior opt-in, not opt-out.
A lot of the gripes I see are just people being mad because GNOME makes choices they don't like. I don't understand why people write like this about GNOME, if you don't like it don't use it, your emotions make you look petty, etc etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
@vkc I agree about making it opt-in, but given the legacy they ought to show it in the settings app not in some config file. If you upgrade your OS and it doesn't work like it's always worked before, it's reasonable to expect you could look in the mouse settings next to cursor and scroll speed
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Hmm. I thought the "people love that" line would have been enough of a clue that I was being facetious, but I guess not. Sorry. It was meant as a (apparently bad) joke.
@bruce@darkmoon.social @vkc@linuxmom.net pro-tip: it's impossible to tell intentions of people over text. tone indicators are the way to go
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@vkc They do have a history of breaking workflows for no good reason. My first thought was "they are going to drop support for it in the future and then I'm going to have to find a new DE again, what a headache".
Of course they have the right to do whatever they please but it shouldn't be surprising that the existing users whose lives it makes more difficult will complain.
Whether they always hit the right tone with their complaints is another matter, to be sure.
@vkc I also had no idea people were having trouble with middle-button paste, until I saw people's reactions to this change.
It's such a delightful little helper, saves 2 keyboard interactions, doesn't ever paste formatting, gives me an extra buffer... and I don't recall ever having trouble with it since Firefox stopped opening everything pasted into it as a URL, many years ago.
Now I wonder what it is that I can't get used to that everybody else thinks is the best thing ever.
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Anyway, if you like GNOME and their design concepts, you're awesome and totally a valid user of Linux.
Sick of the absurd nonsense that says otherwise.
@vkc ive been playing around with cosmic...its a gnome variant I'd say with tiling toggle per workspace. Very nice themeing features as well. Very new, but functional and snappy
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It's frustration by the community using GNOME as they feel their interests aren't considered in the development process. This is a natural outcome in sociology.
When you use something, you typically have a vested interest in the prosperity of it. People tend to get frustrated when they feel ignored and some are passionate enough about it to voice their discontent.
I did the very same with you previously regarding paywalling your community.
*Edited.
@vkc@linuxmom.net@Saorsa@neondystopia.world @vkc@linuxmom.net worth noting most of those people dont use GNOME
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@glent "its role in the failure of desktop Linux"
That's a GIGANTIC assumption. And is insulting to the hard working people who work on GNOME, many of whom had nothing to do with those so-called "insular design choices".
It's open source, you can't force a team to do things your way. GNOME's foundation led to wonderful projects like Cinnamon, and I'd argue that the diversification has been a strength.
IMO it's all needless harping on folks who have different opinions.
@vkc thanks for illustrating my point.
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In this period, in this timeline, at this moment, maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't talk about *desktop environment design disagreements* like they're causing deep emotional harm?
@vkc Agreed. Although I wish wayland actually cared about accessibility
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@vkc it's framed in obvious inflammatory rhetoric, and also "because X11 did it that way" is a total non-reason for nuking a feature common to graphical unices since the 1980s. But yes, I agree, they're free to do whatever they want in their little playground! GNOME has been pushing through the boundaries of sensible user interface design for quite a while now. Nothing new there.
@theodric@social.linux.pizza @vkc@linuxmom.net You're talking as if the desktop hurt you personally.
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@vkc They do have a history of breaking workflows for no good reason. My first thought was "they are going to drop support for it in the future and then I'm going to have to find a new DE again, what a headache".
Of course they have the right to do whatever they please but it shouldn't be surprising that the existing users whose lives it makes more difficult will complain.
Whether they always hit the right tone with their complaints is another matter, to be sure.
@eseilt@mastodon.scot @vkc@linuxmom.net
They do have a history of breaking workflows for no good reason.
whose lives it makes more difficult will complain.
Is clicking some button difficult?
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@vkc
I've used Linux since 1995. I use it personally for fun, and I've used it professionally for 30 years, incuding some of the largest computers on earth. And I've used middle-click for that entire time.I love using Gnome, *because* it doesn't overwhelm me with options. It gets out of the way. And I think removing middle-click is the right decision. The utility just isn't worth the confusion - two clipboards and accidental middle-clicks still confuse me.
@vkc
In general, being consistent, following standards and conforming to peoples expectations is more important than being optimal, in any sense.A great example is car control layout. The current two (or three) pedals and wheel layout can probably be improved. But not improved enough that it's worth disrupting the training and muscle memory of a billion people.
Basic desktop controls are the same. Being consistent across all desktops is better than being optimal.
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@vkc There is history.
What fuels the anger is the annoyance at the lack of reflection within Gnome of its role in the failure of desktop Linux.
Most notably it's insular design choices in Gnome 3, and the early shipment of that non-ready software, reducing Linux's share of the market from MacOS levels to a third of that.
Today, yet another insular design choice by Gnome. Of course people are going to give them stick. Even if it's a good decision.
@glent@aus.social @vkc@linuxmom.net
What fuels the anger is the annoyance at the lack of reflection within Gnome of its role in the failure of desktop Linux.
Dude, are you fucking serious? 4% and constantly growing is a failure?
It's some project made by volunteers in their free time, people who are still personally offended GNOME 2 era is gone are owed NOTHING.
Most notably it's insular design choices in Gnome 3, and the early shipment of that non-ready software, reducing Linux's share of the market from MacOS levels to a third of that.
What the fuck are you talking about? Serious question.
Today, yet another insular design choice by Gnome
Ah yes, because surely feature that is constant source of confusion to more people that can be counted is insulated from the user base. If we sticked to the desires of loud minorities, we would get nowhere.
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The way the article is written. The way the comments talk about it.
Why do people make it sound like GNOME is some sort of secret cabal of Linux haters?
It's a freaking desktop environment, they have every right to build it however they want, and you have every right to use something different. There's zero reason to get emotionally charged about it.
@vkc totally agree, i usually listen this type of hate from Linux desktop gatekeepers. Looks like a sect
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Hot take: good riddance. I dislike the middle click thing. Trips me up all the time as someone who accidentally clicks it when scrolling.
I think the right move is to make this (undoubtedly useful to some) behavior opt-in, not opt-out.
A lot of the gripes I see are just people being mad because GNOME makes choices they don't like. I don't understand why people write like this about GNOME, if you don't like it don't use it, your emotions make you look petty, etc etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
@vkc Oh ffs no! Middle click under X has never meant "Paste". It has always meant "Insert the Primary Selection here". Any change to this will break my workflow. For those of you who, for youth or for newness, have no idea what I'm talking about, this is a good write up: https://www.jwz.org/doc/x-cut-and-paste.html
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Hot take: good riddance. I dislike the middle click thing. Trips me up all the time as someone who accidentally clicks it when scrolling.
I think the right move is to make this (undoubtedly useful to some) behavior opt-in, not opt-out.
A lot of the gripes I see are just people being mad because GNOME makes choices they don't like. I don't understand why people write like this about GNOME, if you don't like it don't use it, your emotions make you look petty, etc etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
They really said "I implore the GNOME team to spend a day using Windows with just your keyboard, it's useful" about them removing a feature from the mouse on Linux?
I get that other tools can have some useful features, but... I don't see how that is relevant to the rest of the article at all?
I'm also not a fan of arguments from tradition in general. ddate was included in util-linux until 2012(ish, I've also seen 2011), despite not really belonging there.
Keeping it as an opt-in feature is what I think should happen, personally. I didn't even really look into disabling it, but I won't miss it -
Hot take: good riddance. I dislike the middle click thing. Trips me up all the time as someone who accidentally clicks it when scrolling.
I think the right move is to make this (undoubtedly useful to some) behavior opt-in, not opt-out.
A lot of the gripes I see are just people being mad because GNOME makes choices they don't like. I don't understand why people write like this about GNOME, if you don't like it don't use it, your emotions make you look petty, etc etc.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/gnome_middle_click_paste/
@vkc Recently I noticed that it has been disabled. It is frustrating that there is no setting for this behaviour because I always use it and it means I now have to do more clicks or a keyboard action to copy and paste in the terminal.
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@vkc thanks for illustrating my point.
@glent what?
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@vkc I agree about making it opt-in, but given the legacy they ought to show it in the settings app not in some config file. If you upgrade your OS and it doesn't work like it's always worked before, it's reasonable to expect you could look in the mouse settings next to cursor and scroll speed
@rappscal I tend to agree, put it in the settings app, *and* I'd argue that the best behavior would be to only disable it on fresh installs, not change it on an upgrade (I don't know how feasible that is, I'm not a GNOME dev).
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There is a vested interest by numerous groups within the free and open source community to take Linux in a direction that not everyone will agree with. GNOME happens to be one such group and tends to catch a lot of flak due to their unwillingness to compromise on their principles. Something that has at times caused complications in the projects they collaborate on such as Wayland.
Ultimately, we have a difference in opinion when it comes to communities and their responsibility. I believe that a community has a responsibility to tend to the needs and interests of the people from which it consists. As a YouTuber for example, you would be nothing without your audience and as such you may have a vested interest to appease them.
GNOME is held accountable only to the developers and people within their foundation and not the community. This creates a disconnect where people feel they are being ignored. When the users of your software make that discontent known and you continue to ignore it rather than address the issue, it festers resentment. That resentment builds up into the sentiment that some people have towards GNOME today.
Sure, they can always just use COSMIC which has some feature parity to GNOME. But that isn't the point. In order to maintain a healthy community, some concessions are necessary and the cause and effect of GNOME refusing to do so is the sentiment people hold towards them.
@vkc@linuxmom.net@Saorsa@neondystopia.world @vkc@linuxmom.net
GNOME is held accountable only to the developers and people within their foundation and not the community
GNOME is a project made out of volunteers, and helding volunteers "accountable" isn't ethical. If someone wants to take part if developing GNOME, or project in its proximity, there is guide https://welcome.gnome.org/ for people interested in contributing.
In fact, feedback is valuable, too. As long as it's respectful.
