In Ubuntu, there is an infamous issue with the Gnome clipboard manager. (Actually, it’s not even decent enough to be called a “clipboard manager.”) Many people face extremely annoying problems of losing data when copying and pasting, especially when the copied source is closed. Ironically, this problem has not been fixed in the recently released 8.04 Hardy Heron.

The Symptoms

• Pasting from a copy returns empty.
• Clipboard empties when the copied source is closed.
• The user yells in annoyance as the system clipboard fails.

To solve the main issue of clipboard data loss, install Glipper for Ubuntu.

Glipper is a GNOME based clipboard manager. It is basically the GNOME counterpart of the KDE Klipper. Because Glipper is written in Python, it is customizable with many different Add-Ons and extensions. However, Glipper lacks the ability to handle image copy pastes.

How to Install:

Open the Synaptic Package Manager
System > Administration > Synaptic Lackage Manager

Search for ‘Glipper’ and mark it for installation. Afterwards, apply the installation.

Add Glipper to your GNOME Panel.
Right Clip Panel > Add to Panel > Drag “Clipboard manager” to an appropriate place in your panel.

Following Ubuntu’s rise to the top of the Linux distribution bulk, Wubi brings new and free-of-charge hope to Windows users who are curious about this operating system but are too lazy to burn CDs, partition, and perform other mundane preparations for dual-boots. Although Wubi is still a beta, it is a promising opportunity for the people unfamiliar with Linux and the apathetic lizardmen who could never muster the mental strength to partition a drive (me).

Adhering to Ubuntu’s user-friendly style, Wubi’s software-esque application makes installing Ubuntu ridiculously simple. Wubi gets downloaded, executes, and uninstalls like a usual software. After a few questions and a reboot later, it’ll go about its own business – which takes about 3 hours totally in my case.

To illustrate the ridiculously little effort to install Wubi, here are three steps that summarize the procedure.

1. First, select a password.
2. Secondly, click install.
3. “There is no three.”

Wubi requires at least 4 GB of your drive, and have a slightly slower hard drive access speed if it does not have a dedicated partition. Aside from the default Ubuntu, other flavors are also available during setup, such as Edubuntu, UbuntuStudio, and Xubuntu (recommended for slower computers). Although I’ve encountered some wireless problems with this version of Ubuntu, everything seemed to be identical to my other computer dedicated to Ubuntu.

For more information, check out Wubi’s FAQ.