Comment by ndiddy
2 days ago
From the MR comments:
> 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
I don't know why they're using familiarity as an argument when GNOME has intentionally behaved completely differently from the Windows/Mac desktop for the past 15 years. I'm sure that having to launch software by clicking an unlabelled button on the top-left of the screen and then clicking the dots in the dock that appears on the bottom, or not having a visible overview of the windows onscreen without switching to fullscreen "activities mode", or not having any application status icons, or not being able to minimize windows, all cause more user confusion than middle click paste.
Of course all of this is completely fine. It's great that people are trying out new ways to use a computer, and I'm sure that there's lots of people that prefer the GNOME workflow. It's just that when you already have to re-learn how to use a desktop in order to use GNOME, I don't see the point in acting like middle click paste is a step too far.
Edit: I also saw an interesting point made by a KDE developer on the Linux Reddit board: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1q4viq9/disable_prim...
> Having an option is fine; we do in Plasma. They can have any default they want too, I don't care.
> What's bad is this MR doing it at a GTK level. It's that lack of even thinking about what inconsistencies that would cause for GTK apps running anywhere outside gnome and other toolkits running on Gnome that comes across quite badly.
> gsettings-desktop-schemas will be pulled in [on other desktops] as it's a reverse dep of many other things, including xdg-desktop-portal-gtk, which is required for use on all desktops to avoid having messed up GTK fonts in your flatpak apps.
> "we have to cater to what 96% of users know" Indeed. Just recently saw a talk "Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZTOjd_bOQ) where Scott Jenson (Apple/Google UX) laments we stopped innovating on Desktop.
Such appeal to conformity is indeed quite sad from GNOME.
Wait, so it's important to be "familiar" to the 96 percent of users who don't use your software?
Math isn't among the strong points of Gnome devs. Neither is honesty. If they were honest they would write the truth, like:
"100% of Linux desktop users love middle-button paste, but we want to muddy the waters for those 25% of them who are stupid enough to use Gnome, our sponsors will reward us for it."
I wholly dis^H^H^Happrove of what you say—but won't defend to the death your right to say it.
(Apologies to not Voltaire)
I am mostly on Windows now, but once upon a time I was a GNOME fanboy, did some minor contributions to Gtkmm, the most relevant one was an article on The C/C++ User's Journal raising awarness of its existence.
When using GNU/Linux VMs with desktop experience, I never use GNOME unless I am not able to change to XFCE, KDE, or even my oldie WindowMaker. e.g. I don't own the VM.
No idea what is their supposed target audience nowadays.
Yes, you don't make that 4 percent bigger unless you get people who don't use Linux to use Linux.
> Yes, you don't make that 4 percent bigger unless you get people who don't use Linux to use Linux.
And you get people to use Linux by removing features that make Linux attractive in the first place? The mess that is Windows clipboard and cut/paste is what drove me to Linux when I started with it, and I've heard the same from other people too.
"Users of W don't know X" leads to "Let make our system like W" which is a ruse of an argument, that was pointed out already.
I encourage you to read the grandparent of your comment and specifically this quote (from ndiddy):
"I don't know why they're using familiarity as an argument when GNOME has intentionally behaved completely differently from the Windows/Mac desktop for the past 15 years."