this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
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[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 5 days ago (2 children)

WTF?

And the reason is bullshit.
User confusion... You maybe get confused once or twice, after that you just start using it as it is incredibly convenient.

Only confusion happens when I have to use Windows and it doesn't work any more...

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (3 children)

The middle mouse is important for browsing. I understand and see how that can cause issues. This is not about Windows, it is about the browser and this specific feature.

[–] eiri@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago

I mean, middle click seems to open links in tabs fine here, even though I have paste on it as well.

So I don't see that there is a problem there? Except in the use case of side-scrolling by clicking the middle button - is that a thing?

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

So just give apps an easy option to override the system default.
No need to change the established and pretty much standardized default behaviour of the whole OS.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Yes, that sounds reasonable.

[–] naeap@sopuli.xyz 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Aren't those different elements?

(Text) Input element - pastes with middle click Hyperlinks - open in new tab "Empty space"/background/text - maybe use for the scroll thingy, I've never used

I don't really see the problem here, or do I miss something?

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I think you can use it for side-scrolling or page-moving(???) or so.
Somewhat exotic, I don't think I know anyone who uses the middle button for anything other than the standard mouse-wheel vertical scrolling, which has nothing to do with pressing the middle button.

[–] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 days ago

Due to the way my browser is laid out I do need the scroll right-left, I miss a chunk of info on the right of some pages making me use the ity bity scroll bar at the bottom of the page. I did stop trying after my 3rd time in a month clicking the wheel now I just don't do it. A toggle would be better than changing an action so many of you have ingrained, I can't see myself ever getting used to this action as I prefer to hot key my way through copy/paste/etc. Don't mess with the old guard to gain new users, you will only lose

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

I've been using Linux for 10+ years and still get confused by this feature.