Comment 115 for bug 11334

Howdy,

"I also find this bug annoying - but it is not of the "highest priority"
> IMHO - especially as a workaround has been available for years:
> glipper/klipper."
>
> I've said this many times: Glipper is not a solution and not even a good
> workaround. Glipper is unstable, 1 in 10 times when starting the system,
> Glipper doesn't start and Glipper only supports text. Copy an in image
> in Firefox (for example the Launchpad logo), close Firefox, start The
> GIMP, try to paste the image... impossible, even when using Glipper.
>

We're in total agreement about the solution and that glipper is not it. The
solution - of course - is to integrate proper clipboard management into the
DEs (Gnome, KDE, etc...).

I never had that instability though - glipper starts fine here - never
noticed that it didn't.

I admit that graphics are a problem. I rarely copy graphics that way (and if
>I do the source app stays opern for other reasons anyway) - so I didn't
suffer from that. But I get that it sucks if you do that a lot.

>
> Olaf wrote 6 hours ago:
> "I would very much like to see this bug fixed, but installing k/glipper or
> keeping the source app open while you copy/paste is not terribly difficult.
> Some day a GSoC project or somebody from IBM/et al will fix it."
>
> As I said, Glipper isn't a solution nor a good workaround. True, keeping
> the source opened is the best workaround and I do this, but everytime I
> have to remember to not close the source before pasting. This is just so
> 1980's. It's completely ridiculous we have to keep the source opened in
>

Again - we're not in disagreement about the goal. Only a very few very crazy
people would argue otherwise.
Yes - it would be way better if the clipboard would work as you and I and
practically everybody else and his sisters grandpa expects it to.

> the year 2009!!! You can't expect new users to know they've to keep the
> source open to be able to paste. New users will everytime loose their
> work, because they don't understand what's going on under the hood
>

Most users hardly ever use the clipboard that way. Heck - many users hardly
know how to use the clipboard.
It's already a challenge to train people not to use spaces as layout in word
processing apps.

> Ubuntu never says: "You've copied something, so you've got the keep the
> source open to be able to paste it somewhere else. Closing this window
> will loose the contents of the clipboard." How does a new user know he
> has to keep the source open. He always closed the source and then pasted
>

I agree that he doesn't. But there's a high chance s/he didn't close the
first app anyway.

> the contents of the clipboard somewhere else when he was using Windows.
> This is the way a clipboard should work! Keeping the source open is
> completely ridiculous! We're living in the year 2009, not in the 1980's.
>

You don't have to convince me - I'm pre-convinced. ;-)
We're in total 100% agreement about the solution.

>
> People are used to the way copy/paste works on Windows (which is the
> only good way to implement copy/paste) and when using Linux they have no
> clue what's going on. They keep on loosing their work and they haven't
> got a single clue they have to keep the source open. When I started
> using Linux, I've lost my work so many times and people are still losing
> their work, every day. Therfore this bug has to be marked as a bug of
> the HIGHEST PRIORITY, not as wishlist. Please, someone, change this to
> HIGHEST PRIORITY!
>

And that's the part where we disagree. I'm sorry you lost work. That's
annnoying. Though - come on - it shouldn't take too many losses to remember
this behaviour. Yes - it's sub-optimal. I'm not saying it's good the way it
is - but it's not the worst problem ever.

And there's plenty of things with higher prority. On my personal list -
remembering size and position of closed apps - so they open in the same
position with the same size next time I open them - instead of "smart"
placement that gnome devs prefered - would be a way higher priority in my
book. And I could list several other things I'd like fixed before somebody
tackles the clipboard.

And neither of us knows how difficult this is to fix. It's safe to assume
it's easier said than done - otherwise somebody *would* have done it
already.

Google is collecting ideas every year for GSoC projects. Write a proposal
and submit it. Fair chance a student will be paid by google fixing this.

cheers

Olaf