Quick Copy and Paste

Sometimes the best tweaks in Linux are the ones that don’t require any additional effort. Uncovering and discovering useful little options that are built in to the system can feel like the coolest tweak going. Today’s GnomeTWEAK might strike you exactly that way if you’ve spent any time trying to copy text in console windows.

Let’s say you want to install an rpm named thisistherpm-1.0-6.i386.rpm. The command, as root, might be:

    rpm -Uvh thisistherpm-1.0-6.i386.rpm

It’s a pain to type out, indeed. One little letter off in the file name and you get an error message. If you’re inclined to cutting and pasting text for the sake of accuracy, you can use this tweak. First, “ls” the directory the rpm is in for a short listing of the contents of the directory. Next, highlight only the rpm by holding down the left mouse button and dragging across the name. Next, start your rpm command, completing it up to the point of the file name. Now, if you have a 3-button mouse, leave the cursor where the file name will go and press the center mouse button. If it’s a 2-button mouse, click both buttons at the same time. Voila! Instant copy and paste.

Even more useful, this tweak can be used to copy and paste text between console windows, from console windows into a text editor and vice versa. In Linux, the act of highlighting text copies it to the clipboard without the additional step of explicitly selecting “copy.”

See … no table of options, no additional brain strain - just a useful little tweak that’s already built in. How cool is that?