> That feels perfectly reasonable for what I imagine is 99% of all developers, so while sad, I can imagine why that use case is not very high on their list of priorities.
I think you might be under the impression that what the GP is complaining about is having the default copy and paste go to the system clipboard.
This is not what is happening; in Vim all modifications are saved to the default register. Making the default register the system clipboard is annoying, because the following happens:
Insert a newline? Newline replaces whatever is in the clipboard.
Switch around two letters in a typo with `xp`? That text replaces the contents of the system clipboard.
Remove a word? Change a word? Add a new word? All replace the contents of the system clipboard.
Run a macro that changes things around? Nukes the system clipboard.
I don't think that 99% of developers want this behaviour. What they want is that when they explicitly copy something, it must be reflected in the system clipboard.
I assume all of these are some special combination of keys/modifiers? While I agree it’s less than ideal, at least you always know it’s going to happen if you are sort of familiar with Vim.
> I assume all of these are some special combination of keys/modifiers?
It's rare, in Vim, to not use commands. It is, after all, a command-oriented interface.
Any command that removes text or modifies text places the removed text into the default register.
> While I agree it’s less than ideal, at least you always know it’s going to happen if you are sort of familiar with Vim.
The problem with making the default register nuke the system clipboard is that almost all text editing commands are going to nuke the system clipboard.
I think you might be under the impression that what the GP is complaining about is having the default copy and paste go to the system clipboard.
This is not what is happening; in Vim all modifications are saved to the default register. Making the default register the system clipboard is annoying, because the following happens:
Insert a newline? Newline replaces whatever is in the clipboard.
Switch around two letters in a typo with `xp`? That text replaces the contents of the system clipboard.
Remove a word? Change a word? Add a new word? All replace the contents of the system clipboard.
Run a macro that changes things around? Nukes the system clipboard.
I don't think that 99% of developers want this behaviour. What they want is that when they explicitly copy something, it must be reflected in the system clipboard.