On Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 8:19 AM, Andrew C Aitchison
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Jun 2017, Tom H wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 4:38 PM, ToddAndMargo <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I have been using UNIX and Linux for over 25 years and did not
>>> realize X11 has four clipboards. I recently discovered the Secondary
>>> Selection keyboard.
>>>
>>> It really saves a bunch of time when I am programming as I don't
>>> lose my cursor's hot spot.
>>>
>>> Here is a great 8 minute video demonstrating all four clipboards. It
>>> is must learn for anyone using Linux.
>>>
>>> http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl/Secondary-Selection.mp4
>>>
>>> To support this clipboard, your program has to use the GTK Toolkit.
>>
>> Thanks. I didn't know about this secondary clipboard. I've just tried
>> it on my laptop running Ubuntu 17.10 but it didn't work. I suspect
>> that it's been deep-sixed in Gnome Shell and Unity.
>
> I was interested in the secondary clipboard too, and looked at
> http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl/secondary-selection.html which makes
> clear that this is not a standard gtk feature; there are experimental
> modified gtk3 libraries which support secondary selection (no source
> yet).
>
> gtk3 means it doesn't run on SL6, so I haven't been able to explore further.
The author of "Secondary-Selection.mp4" asked about it on the gtk
development list
https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2016-August/msg00036.html
and the answer was
https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2016-August/msg00037.html
Part of the response:
We still (optionally) support the PRIMARY selection on the X11 backend,
and some compatibility layer for it on Wayland, but we have no plans on
adding support for the SECONDARY selection, as it's both barely
specified and, like the PRIMARY, highly confusing for anybody who is not
well-versed in 20+ years of use of textual interfaces on the X Windows
System. Personally, I would have jettisoned the PRIMARY selection a long
time ago as well, but apparently a very vocal minority is still holding
tight to that particular Easter egg. Adding support for the even more
esoteric SECONDARY selection on the X11 backend when we're trying to
move the Linux world towards the more modern and less legacy-ridden
Wayland display system would be problematic to say the least, and an ill
fit for the majority of graphical user experiences in use these days.
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