I found a few of the old bug reports that explain why the behaviour is the way it is by default.
The idea was that users usually only had a vertical scrollwheel so that should be used for zoom and the user could drag the image around with the mouse. Currently dragging doesn't work so that leaves a broken UX at the moment with current behaviour. Also, a number of mice and touchpads have scrolling in both X and Y directions (both my machines do) which changes the arguments a wee bit. The gconf setting Marcel noted works and eog behaves as expected when it is set. Various bug-reports and resolutions for reference: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341935 http://www.mail-archive.com/debian-bugs-closed@lists.debian.org/msg117176.html https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/eog/+bug/143971 ** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #341935 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=341935 -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/686128 Title: Zoom / scroll behaviour is inconsistent with other Gnome programs -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs