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IIRC, once upon I time I used only the mouse for copy-and-paste, which I consider way superior to the Windows-like Ctrl-C Ctrl-V complication. Now after many years I'm slowly starting to use Linux again and to my horror I see that it doesn't work anymore, except between Emacs and terminal windows. Of course, the keyboard shortcuts don't work in Emacs, so it's a real pain e.g. to copy from Emacs to Firefox.

Is there a way how to fix it? I mean I want to use marking and pasting using the mouse only everywhere, not the other way round.

I'm not asking about clipboard managers, I need neither clipboard persistence nor multiple clipboards, but if it solves my problem, I'll go for it.

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  • I'm not sure what you have done with your specific set up, but this still works in everything I've just tried. Mar 13, 2011 at 11:57
  • @Ward I'm using quite a new installation and did about nothing yet. I've marked a line in Emacs using a triple click, switched to Firefox, pressed the middle mouse button and nothing happened.
    – maaartinus
    Mar 13, 2011 at 12:09
  • Now it works... I noticed my middle mouse button doesn't work sometimes... it must have been the reason. Sorry for the noise.
    – maaartinus
    Mar 14, 2011 at 10:29

2 Answers 2

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Using the mouse

Kubuntu comes with a clipboard manager by default, Klipper.

Ubuntu has a simple clipboard manager (not installed by default) that does contains everything you want: no persistence and copy on select (configurable). It's called Parcellite. You need to enable "Use Primary (Selection)" to enable copy-on-select.

Parcellite Preferences

Both applications can be configured to (not) save the clipboard on shutdown.


Using the keyboard

In the terminal, Ctrl + C sends a SIGINT kill signal to applications.

The default shortcuts in the Terminal are:

  • Copy: Ctrl + Shift + C
  • Paste: Ctrl + Shift + V

These shortcuts can be customized in the Terminal application itself.

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  • Sorry, I see question wasn't clear enough. I don't want to use keyboard at all (when holding the mouse already).
    – maaartinus
    Mar 13, 2011 at 11:49
  • @maartinus: updated, I'll add screenshots soon.
    – Lekensteyn
    Mar 13, 2011 at 12:13
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In X you just have to mark the text you want to have copied and use the middle mouse button to paste it wherever you want.

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  • This doesn't work e.g. for the URL in Firefox. I've tried it several times.
    – maaartinus
    Mar 13, 2011 at 11:47
  • This is strange. Me and someone else tested this on 10.10 using Firefox 3.6.15 and 4 RC1. Both times it worked. Mar 13, 2011 at 13:56
  • @maaartinus When you try pasting a URL into Firefox, how are you clearing the address bar first? I can select text in GNOME Terminal and then paste it into Firefox's address bar using the middle mouse button (and vice versa), but I don't know of a quick way to clear the address bar prior to pasting that doesn't involve selecting the current URL — an action that would overwrite my clipboard contents.
    – ændrük
    Mar 13, 2011 at 14:34
  • @ændrük The only workaround I know is to open a new tab instead of working in the same tab. Mar 13, 2011 at 14:41

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