cut and paste from CLI

[Doug McGarrett]

If I cat a file, the results show up on the terminal. If I highlight those lines, and
ctrl-C them, they will not paste into, for example, Thunderbird mail. How can I do that?
If there is a pipe command, where would I pipe to? (I tried on PCLOS.)
--doug

[Irithori]

Copy&Paste works different on unix.
Select the text with the mouse, no other action is needed to pick it up.
To paste it, press the middle mouse button, alternatively both mouse buttons, alternatively <shift>+<insert> (, alternatively <ctrl>+<v>)

The last one was added to *graphical* environments (not the terminal, as <ctrl> + <something> is used to send signals to processes here), because so many (windows) users were used to <ctrl>+<c>, <ctrl>+<v>.

[Doug McGarrett]

Thank you. You seem to be only partially right. Ctrl-v does not work on my OS--PCLOS--but the both mouse button trick does. (I wish you could still buy
a three-button track-ball for a reasonable price.) Shift-insert does not work either.

Happy Thanksgiving--doug

[Irithori]

Good that it worked out for you.

Actually, I found this

The X Window System® uses two separate clipboard buffers: the “selection” and the “clipboard”. Text is placed in the selection buffer by simply selecting it, and can be pasted with the middle mouse button. To place text in the clipboard buffer, select it and press Ctrl-X or Ctrl-C. Text from the clipboard buffer is pasted using Ctrl-V or by selecting Edit->Paste.

And as I said ctrl is used for signals in shells, therefore terminals dont use it for copy&paste.

Also, shift insert does work in a terminal, just select any text and press that combination.

[reed9]

Many terminal apps do support copy/paste from the clipboard buffer with CTRL+SHIFT+C/V. AFAIK, gnome-terminal, konsole, XFCE Terminal, LXterm all support that, as well as the primary buffer highlight+middle click method.

You can also remap keys to simulate a middle click. I have the menu key mapped to a middle click. Here is a guide for that.

Linux Aleph: mapping middle-click to a keyboard key