X is for the X Selection: Copy and Paste on Linux (Shallow Thoughts)

X is for the X Selection: Copy and Paste on Linux

There's so much confusion about copy and paste in Linux. Many people, coming from the Windows or Mac worlds, complain about copy/paste not working right. And while it's true that some apps don't handle copy/paste very well (Firefox in particular is notably flaky in this area), usually the problem is that nobody has ever told them about one of Linux's best features: the two types of selection, Primary and Clipboard.

The Primary Selection

When you sweep your mouse across some words to highlight them, or double-click to highlight a word, or triple-click to highlight a line, whatever you've highlighted is now in the primary selection.

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