This has been such a weird annoyance for me. Since I primarily use a Thinkpad with a track point, I would find myself middle click pasting randomly while scrolling through code or whatever

I understand and kinda agree with the reasoning, even though I love middle click paste. At least they're saying there'll be a setting to re enable it, the first thing I do on a fresh install is install Tweaks/Refine to rebind caps lock as ctrl so clicking an extra toggle wouldn't be the biggest issue.

It's odd to call middle click to paste a dumpster fire when the Windows console will use a modal behaviour for right click - by default it's paste (and there are certain situations where you can only reliably paste with right click), unless you have text selected, then copy that text (and deselect it). By comparison middle click is pretty damn predictable.

I wonder however how much of the complaints come from laptop users with oversized touchpads who are frustrated by accidental clicks while typing. But it'd be odd that only middle click is singled out then.

It really is such bullshit.

Did they also disable ctrl+q to immediately quit Firefox? Right next to ctrl+w, which people use all the time?

It seems like it was just one wacky Gnome dev. Not, as I was too quick to believe, a Mozilla thing.

Middle click paste is one of the best things about linux, that most compelled me to stay.

Blows my mind that there's such damaging enshitifying ideas out there like getting rid of middle click paste.

Losing middle click paste would make the interface incalculably worse.

... Is it an idea from the competition, to sabotage?