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So, a day after installing Ubuntu on this computer I notice that about half the time when I right-click a hyperlink, which normally brings up a context menu, it brings up some other function. Most recently, this other function is Firefox's Bookmark window. Half the time I get a context menu, the other half the time I get a random feature, like the bookmark window. Is this a 'feature' of FF3 for Linux, or is my computer possessed?

I have not noticed this behavior. Sounds like you've got a little mystery on your hands.

To determine whether the problem is specific to Firefox or to your Ubuntu install, you could try installing one of the other browsers that are supported by Ubuntu, like Seamonkey or Epiphany.

I installed Epiphany... now I have to figure out how to run it so I can test it. I installed it from Add/Remove programs, and it didn't give me a new icon to click on or nothin'.

Bookmark menu is one of the options in the context menu for a hyperlink. I wonder if your mouse is perhaps not debounced correctly and the software is seeing the right click to open the context menu and then another click to go straight to the bookmark menu? Bring up System->Mouse->Preferences and test single and double right clicks on the light bulb.

I have also noticed this behaviour, but assumed it was because of the very stiff buttons on the touch pad on my laptop (only computer I have experienced it on). I find that if this behaviour starts to happen repeatedly, right clicking in an 'empty' space restores it to normal functionality again.

Good to know others are having this issue though.

As with the touch pad I can position the mouse and then only right click without touching the track pad itself, I doubt it is sensing some double movement, but that could still possibly be the case.

FireGryphon wrote:

I installed Epiphany... now I have to figure out how to run it so I can test it. I installed it from Add/Remove programs, and it didn't give me a new icon to click on or nothin'.

It should show up under Applications -> Internet. I've occasionally seen apps that don't show up in the menu until you've logged out and back in; you might want to try that if you haven't already.

Alternatively, open a terminal window and type "epiphany" at the prompt.

Yeah, logging out and in again placed it in the Apps menu. Epiphany is working well so far, haven't had any right-clicking mishaps.

At first I thought it might be gesture clicking, but that's not it. It's not the mouse, either; this mouse is an old Microsoft ball mouse, but it never exhibited this behavior in WinXP, so I doubt it's the source of the fault. Clicking in blank space doesn't solve this, I don't think. It seems like something I woudl have done just by randomly clicking around the screen in desperation, but I'll explicitly try it next time it happens.

It seems there's always some infuriating hurdle that keeps me from enjoying a smooth Linux experience. 'least I keep coming back. On the whole, I just miss Photoshop, and the ability to install random little programs however I'd like.

I also noticed this issue. When firefox is very busy (eg. opened lots of tabs with pages full of flash) when right-click on a link pop-up menu doesn't show, instead firefox activates element of menu that should be under cursor if menu was shown - this gives effect of "random" pop-up menu action. I avoid this issue by using flashblock and by opening new tabs with clicking with third mouse button (the whell) on links.
I also noticed that google chrome also have this issue but handles it differently - when chrome is very busy it always show pop-up menu but the menu seems inactive (clicking on any menu item doesn't trigger action and menu doesn't hide) until chrome is able to handle the menu again.

FireGryphon wrote:

this mouse is an old Microsoft ball mouse, but it never exhibited this behavior in WinXP, so I doubt it's the source of the fault

It could be autodetecting the wrong mouse protocol in Linux and getting it right in XP...

FireGryphon wrote:

the ability to install random little programs however I'd like.

Linux has that, but often not the Windows programs you are used to. There are a whole separate collection of UNIX/POSIX programs out there - some are packaged up by Ubuntu, but every now and then you'll come across one that you'll need to install yourself. If Ubuntu does package it, it is almost always better to do it that way, but there are plenty out there that have not been packaged for Ubuntu.

notfred wrote:

FireGryphon wrote:

the ability to install random little programs however I'd like.

Linux has that, but often not the Windows programs you are used to. There are a whole separate collection of UNIX/POSIX programs out there - some are packaged up by Ubuntu, but every now and then you'll come across one that you'll need to install yourself. If Ubuntu does package it, it is almost always better to do it that way, but there are plenty out there that have not been packaged for Ubuntu.

Just enable all the repositories sometime and browse. It's quite amazing what you can get without even going outside the repositories supported by Ubuntu and the Ubuntu community. A lot of the "random little programs" (or their functional equivalents) are in fact available if you look.

It is also getting easier to install stuff that's not in the official repositories. The full version of VirtualBox, and Skype (to name two examples I've dealt with recently) are a breeze to install -- just "click 'n' go" using the packages downloaded directly from their respective web sites.

There are also still exceptions, unfortunately. If you need to fill out PDF forms, you pretty much need Adobe Acrobat Reader. And the Linux version of it is, as they say, "not quite ready for prime time". At least not on Ubuntu.

notfred wrote:

FireGryphon wrote:

this mouse is an old Microsoft ball mouse, but it never exhibited this behavior in WinXP, so I doubt it's the source of the fault

It could be autodetecting the wrong mouse protocol in Linux and getting it right in XP...

FireGryphon wrote:

the ability to install random little programs however I'd like.

Linux has that, but often not the Windows programs you are used to. There are a whole separate collection of UNIX/POSIX programs out there - some are packaged up by Ubuntu, but every now and then you'll come across one that you'll need to install yourself. If Ubuntu does package it, it is almost always better to do it that way, but there are plenty out there that have not been packaged for Ubuntu.

I don't think its mouse or Linux issue. I noticed this in Firefox on Linux and on Windows and in Chrome on Windows on different machines. It always was an effect of a busy machine - either by opening lots of tabs or by doing some heavy computations in background.