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Go figure... I actually like that the terminal has its classic Ctrl+ characters unimpeded by the GUI layer, which has its own namespace behind Cmd+ How do you

Go figure... I actually like that the terminal has its classic Ctrl+ characters unimpeded by the GUI layer, which has its own namespace behind Cmd+ How do you copy text out of your virtual terminal? The Fn key placement on the other hand... I’m with you.

rzzzt 6y ago
You select it. No further steps required.
- quesera 6y ago
  If configured, sure, and if you use the mouse for all text selection. And also if configured, middle-click can paste. Now how about Cut (Cmd+X vs Ctrl+Shift+X)?
  - rzzzt 6y ago
    I don't have an alternative for Cut, unfortunately. How do you select text in your virtual terminal with the keyboard?
    - pdkl95 6y ago
      > How do you select text in your virtual terminal with the keyboard? with xsel(1x) or xclip(1) https://github.com/kfish/xsel https://github.com/kfish/xsel https://github.com/astrand/xclip https://github.com/astrand/xclip
    - Scarbutt 6y ago
      tmux lets select with just the keyboard, even when tmux is on a remote server and you are using it through ssh, you can select to your local clipboard. This is for iTerm, don't know about other terminals. No idea how this works, just tested in Terminal.app and it works too.
- user-the-name 6y ago
  So every time you slip slightly with the mouse while clicking, you destroy the clipboard contents.
  - rzzzt 6y ago
    True, but if you mess up the selection step, you won't be able to copy to the clipboard what you wanted with a keyboard shortcut, either.
    - stouset 6y ago
      No, they mean that selecting text is a common activity that doesn’t necessarily imply I want to copy it into my paste buffer. If I want to keep the contents of my paste buffer, I have to force myself to remember not to highlight anything, or I have to go back and find the original text to copy again. The number of times I’ve accidentally obliterated important and hard-to-relocate paste buffer contents on Linux by a wayward mouse action easily numbers in the thousands.
      - pdkl95 6y ago
        > copy it into my paste buffer Selecting text never copies anything. Selections are just metadata that points back to the X client app that "owns" the selection and presumably also has the selected data. Selecting text simply sets the owner of the PRIMARY selection to the current X client, and "pasting" with middle click is asks the current owner of the PRIMARY selection to copy the selected data into the window targeted by the click. From ICCCM[1]: >> Selections communicate between an owner and a requestor. The owner has the data representing the value of its selection, and the requestor receives it. A requestor wishing to obtain the value of a selection provides the following: The name of the selection The name of a property A window The atom representing the data type required Optionally, some parameters for the request >> If the selection is currently owned, the owner receives an event and is expected to do the following: Convert the contents of the selection to the requested data type Place this data in the named property on the named window Send the requestor an event to let it know the property is available > If I want to keep the contents of my paste buffer, I have to force myself to remember not to highlight anything, You're having this problem because you're using the PRIMARY selection when you should be using the CLIPBOARD selection which is more durable and intended[2] for data transfer and copy/paste-like semantics. The Copy/Paste actions traditionally found in the "Edit" menu usually interact with the CLIPBOARD selection. This should be completely orthogonal to the middle-click feature and other interactions with the PRIMARY selection. You should be able to mix usage of both selections. Try this: select text "foo" use Copy from the Edit menu # CLIPBOARD now points to "foo" select different text "bar" # PRIMARY now points to "bar" move to an editable window use Paste from the Edit menu # pastes "foo" middle click the same window # pastes "bar" Unfortunately, confusion about the X server using selections instead of a global buffer is not well explained. [1] https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM/icccm.html#peer_to_peer_communication_by_means_of_selections https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM... [2] https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM/icccm.html#use_of_selection_atoms https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM...

rzzzt 6y ago

You select it. No further steps required.

quesera 6y ago
If configured, sure, and if you use the mouse for all text selection. And also if configured, middle-click can paste. Now how about Cut (Cmd+X vs Ctrl+Shift+X)?
- rzzzt 6y ago
  I don't have an alternative for Cut, unfortunately. How do you select text in your virtual terminal with the keyboard?
  - pdkl95 6y ago
    > How do you select text in your virtual terminal with the keyboard? with xsel(1x) or xclip(1) https://github.com/kfish/xsel https://github.com/kfish/xsel https://github.com/astrand/xclip https://github.com/astrand/xclip
  - Scarbutt 6y ago
    tmux lets select with just the keyboard, even when tmux is on a remote server and you are using it through ssh, you can select to your local clipboard. This is for iTerm, don't know about other terminals. No idea how this works, just tested in Terminal.app and it works too.
user-the-name 6y ago
So every time you slip slightly with the mouse while clicking, you destroy the clipboard contents.
- rzzzt 6y ago
  True, but if you mess up the selection step, you won't be able to copy to the clipboard what you wanted with a keyboard shortcut, either.
  - stouset 6y ago
    No, they mean that selecting text is a common activity that doesn’t necessarily imply I want to copy it into my paste buffer. If I want to keep the contents of my paste buffer, I have to force myself to remember not to highlight anything, or I have to go back and find the original text to copy again. The number of times I’ve accidentally obliterated important and hard-to-relocate paste buffer contents on Linux by a wayward mouse action easily numbers in the thousands.
    - pdkl95 6y ago
      > copy it into my paste buffer Selecting text never copies anything. Selections are just metadata that points back to the X client app that "owns" the selection and presumably also has the selected data. Selecting text simply sets the owner of the PRIMARY selection to the current X client, and "pasting" with middle click is asks the current owner of the PRIMARY selection to copy the selected data into the window targeted by the click. From ICCCM[1]: >> Selections communicate between an owner and a requestor. The owner has the data representing the value of its selection, and the requestor receives it. A requestor wishing to obtain the value of a selection provides the following: The name of the selection The name of a property A window The atom representing the data type required Optionally, some parameters for the request >> If the selection is currently owned, the owner receives an event and is expected to do the following: Convert the contents of the selection to the requested data type Place this data in the named property on the named window Send the requestor an event to let it know the property is available > If I want to keep the contents of my paste buffer, I have to force myself to remember not to highlight anything, You're having this problem because you're using the PRIMARY selection when you should be using the CLIPBOARD selection which is more durable and intended[2] for data transfer and copy/paste-like semantics. The Copy/Paste actions traditionally found in the "Edit" menu usually interact with the CLIPBOARD selection. This should be completely orthogonal to the middle-click feature and other interactions with the PRIMARY selection. You should be able to mix usage of both selections. Try this: select text "foo" use Copy from the Edit menu # CLIPBOARD now points to "foo" select different text "bar" # PRIMARY now points to "bar" move to an editable window use Paste from the Edit menu # pastes "foo" middle click the same window # pastes "bar" Unfortunately, confusion about the X server using selections instead of a global buffer is not well explained. [1] https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM/icccm.html#peer_to_peer_communication_by_means_of_selections https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM... [2] https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM/icccm.html#use_of_selection_atoms https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/xorg-docs/specs/ICCCM...