It may have something to do with the touchpad mouse. I also use a touchpad mouse, although I use it with my desktop system. Yeah, I just prefer a touchpad mouse.
Anyway, touchpad mice are prone to static discharge, much more than regular mice. This can result in a click, even though I might just be moving the cursor or pointer, and never intended to click. And sometimes, it can result in a double-click, even though I only intended to single-click.
So doesn't a double-click with the Gradient tool (
) cause a new gradient at the place where the mouse is double-clicked? Could this explain what's happening?
That said, I did have some weird, similar events, the other day. I'm just learning how to create and use gradients, so I thought I must have done something wrong. But a few times, I did have a brand new 2nd gradient form, unintentionally. In all 3 cases, I was trying to move a radial gradient. With Gradient tool
, I put the mouse pointer over the square node, click and hold, move mouse pointer which is now "holding" the gradient, drag to the new location, release the click. But the gradient did not move from where it was originally, and instead, there was a new gradient in the spot where I released the click (where I wanted the original gradient moved to).
I didn't happen every time, though, and in every case, I clicked Undo and tried again. At one point, it took a few tries, but eventually the move worked as I intended. So IF this is the same problem as yours, it doesn't happen consistently, only sometimes....unless there was something else clicked or selected, and I didn't notice.
Anyway, I will also try to remember to make a screen shot, if it happens again.
All best
This is a read-only archive of the inkscapeforum.com site. You can search for info here or post new questions and comments at 
