It's weird how some of the same people who use middle-click-to-paste also use password managers (which are a good thing).
If that's you, then you're quite daring when you're using collaborative apps (that have history!)
I agree with everyone who says middle-click-to-paste really should be off by default.
It's actively harmful and can easily paste sensitive information and surprising clipboard contents.
(Anyone who likes it is advanced enough to figure out how how to turn it back on.)
Wait, but password managera shouldn't use _that_ clipboard (PRIMARY). What's the thing you're worried about?
@mattdm It's not just password managers though; that's just one example. And who knows how all password managers are handled?
You can reveal the password to make sure it's the correct one (such as if you have multiple accounts), then select it, and then it's using that clipboard, isn't it?
But even selecting some text elsewhere (in a conversation, on a website, etc.) might not be for any random audience.
Clipboards do contain sensitive stuff sometimes, passwords or not.
@purpleidea @mattdm Middle click means much more than paste.
It's also how you pan around in many apps, including web apps like Penpot, Miro, Figma, etc. So you can unintentionally paste something (which could even be sensitive) when panning.
(Also some native apps like Inkscape too, but you don't need to worry about history and leaking things to coworkers quite as much.)
(Middle click is also used for new tabs and closing tabs, but there isn't a paste risk there.)
@garrett @mattdm I think hardcore security conscious people can disable it if they care.
I think the default should be on so that we can show newbies how magic and better we are. There's a bad trend to try and copy windows and mac. Let's innovate more instead and polish like crazy.
Am I right or wrong about when the data is shared with the app or did I get that wrong?
Garrett LeSage
Matthew Miller
James Just James
Ogey Rrat