X cutbuffer question.

[Joe Smith]

Steven W. Orr wrote:
> ... Later on, I copy other text (not related) and try to paste that.
> Instead I get the old tinyURL and not the text I just copied.
> 
> Can someone explain this to me?

Here's another good reference:
http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Standards_2fClipboardsWiki

And the gist of it:
| The correct behavior can be summarized as follows: CLIPBOARD works
| just like the clipboard on Mac or Windows; it only changes on
| explicit cut/copy. PRIMARY is an "easter egg" for expert users,
| regular users can just ignore it; it's normally pastable only via
| middle-mouse-click.

So there are two completely independent "buffers" available on a modern 
X desktop:

CLIPBOARD is used by Ctrl+C/X/V

PRIMARY is used whenever you select text and can be pasted using the 
middle mouse button.

Older X applications may only support PRIMARY.

<Joe