Linux clipboard for Ubuntu leads to same frustration and defeat

After being soundly berated for my previous post on this subject, I decided to try the experiment again with a more Desktopish Linux distro: Ubuntu 8.10. I installed it in a virtual machine, downloaded 208 updates, and decided to see what luck a neophyte user would have installing clipboard utilities here.

I'm sorry, I have to bitch immediately: if you search "Help" for clipboard, up pops that darn little "xclipboard" again. It also shows up with an "apropos clip". What's the gripe? Other than that xclipboard doesn't work on Gnome and this isn't Kubuntu? Oh, nothing..

I'm going to deliberately play a little dumb here. When I asked the great Internet Spirit about Linux clipboard utilities the first response I got was "Check out glipper or klipper I think."

Now, yes, I would expect that Glipper is for Gnome and Klipper is for KDE. But would Joe Linux Newbie necessarily know that? He might, but let's say he just tried typing both of them into a terminal window this newly installed Ubuntu.

 $ glipper
 bash: glipper: command not found
 $ klipper
 The program 'klipper' is currently not installed.
 You can install it by typing:
 sudo apt-get install klipper
 

In all fairness, wouldn't that make our boy Joe think klipper was a viable option? Of course if he does do that apt-get, he's not going to get anything that will work. Please remember, this is Ubuntu, not Kubuntu.

But no, our Joe is smarter than that. He knows he needs glipper. So he goes to Add/Remove Applications, and asks for glipper - only to be told that there is no matching application!

I think that's enough to prove the point I made in the other post. The Linux Guardians at LinuxToday had a good time insulting me about that, but that's what always happens when you complain about anything.

No doubt if LT picks this up, I'll get roundly trashed again. Oh well..