It's true that users shouldn't have to know how things like the X Window System clipboard/selection mechanism works. But really, they don't have to: as the freedesktop.org documents points out, users are really expected to use the CLIPBOARD mechanism which works pretty much like clipboards on the competing platforms and live happily without the select/middle click thingy. Jarno, you only have this problem because even without an unix beard, you've been using these things long enough to know the PRIMARY selection mechanism.

I expect Jarno has heard about this already, but just to nitpick a bit: in X Window System, selecting a piece of text does not normally copy it to the clipboard, despite this being a widely-held belief. Or well, it does, but it's not the only clipboard, and in X parlance, it's usually called the PRIMARY selection. There are three standard selections: PRIMARY, SECONDARY and CLIPBOARD.

To copy things to "the" clipboard — the CLIPBOARD selection, that is — you usually have to invoke an explicit copy operation, typically via the menu choice Edit -> Copy (or your localized equivalent) or via a keyboard shortcut, typically Ctrl-C. You might notice some similarities to certain other systems. And the same goes for the opposite actions: middle clicking only pastes the PRIMARY selection. To paste the contents of the clipboard, Edit -> Paste or Ctrl-V is typically the way.

For more information, see the explanation at freedesktop.org.

Yow. Just released it. Finally. It's bloody late. Late as in it was supposed to be out three months ago, and late as in it was supposed to be out earlier today. Or yesterday, really, seeing what the clock says. It involved adventures with CVS (My First Branch) and stuff like that. Plenty of new stuff there, though mostly rather minor. BTW, have I ever mentioned that doing releases is way too much a hassle? I announce them on the Straw news page (hasn't updated yet when writing this, but the updated pages are in CVS), Freshmeat and the GNOME Software Map (which I see still sports the old look), and it always feels like it takes ages.

I hope I didn't screw up too badly when fooling around with CVS.