Comment 108 for bug 11334

Patrick,

while I also would like to see this big fixed I have to point out that your
rant is wrong on all counts.

Software in general has bugs that sometimes goes back years without getting
fixed. Proprietary software has the very same problem. To sell updates it
needs new features. So updates get rushed out with old bugs and plenty new
features. If you look around you'll easily find many examples of this.

Many open source programmers *are* paid - by IBM, Novell, Red Hat,
Canonical, Intel and many other corporations with an interest in Linux.

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.

And lastly I can't agree that this is the reason why not more people use
desktop Linux. The primary reasons are that people can't pick a game in a
shop and be reasonably certain that their shiny new shrink wrap game works
right away. Similar for legacy apps in corporations. And most people still
don't even know that it exists. I put Ubuntu UNR on my sisters Netbook. Just
yesterrday a neighbour of hers easily browsed around on it with Firefox (by
now everybody knows Firefox :-) ). He later asked me if that was Vista
because he never saw this version of windows before. I told him it's Ubuntu
Linux - he said he never heard of it. And that's what most people (outside
of our geek circles) would say. There's no big TV ad campaigns for Linux -
nor is it prominently displayed in shops with retailers pushing it. And
regular folks out there don't read computer magazines, Wired or slashdot.
Linux grows slowly because it's expanding through a) geeks installing it on
their families/friends computers after those were overrun by windows malware
and a Mac was too expensive or b) by goverrnments trying to get more safety,
less costs or often just avoiding closed software from big american
copmanies they don't trust.

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.