[Tails-dev] qlipper (suggested clipboard software)

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Author: A spoonful of sugar
Date:  
To: tails-dev
Subject: [Tails-dev] qlipper (suggested clipboard software)
Title: qlipper (suggested clipboard software)

Hi, I'm only one person.

I've been feeling sad for years Tails does not include a
regular GUI clipboard app for the panel. I understand
the many reasons NOT to include one.[1] However, there are
many benefits to including one. I've long held off on
suggesting any particular application for a few reasons, not
limited to but including:

# File-size and/or memory usage is too large
(in most other clipboards)
# Requires too many new/introduced dependencies
(in most other clipboards)
# Too many options which may frustrate (new) users
(in most other clipboards)
# Developer(s) of Tails may not care and/or don't want
to add anything new and may not even try the suggestion.
(I can understand and sympathize)

I have tried several clipboards available in Debian, even
going so far as to install each in separate Tails sessions and
giving them a beating. I believe I have found one which is
worthy of adding to future versions of Tails. It's small,
simple, and gets the job done without pulling in a ton of
dependencies.

It's called: qlipper (yes, that's a 'q', not a 'g')

Installation, configuration, and execution, all fantastically
simple and easy to use. Qlipper may not have all of the
blockbuster features and may not be as visually appealing[2]
when compared to most others, but it is small, simple, and
just gets the job done.

The description itself is simple and elegant:

"A Lightweight and cross-platform clipboard history applet. It
provides the following features:"

- saves clipboard history entries and restores them
- lightweight
- systray docking app
- few requirements
- can be used in GNOME and Windows (and more)"

If it is included in a future version of Tails, it should
be updated and introduced with version 5.1.1.

Please know I am not the developer, have not worked on this
project and have no desire to, don't code, and
what do I know, I'm only one person.

[1] Just one concern/solution: If it's serious enough, a
warning pop-up could be made prior to the execution of the
qlipper binary with yes or no load/exit options, maybe a click
box saying I understand this is not a secure clipboard
application.

[2] Despite ease of use, to be honest, I only use qlipper
in Tails. I find another clipboard app, "xfce4-clipman" easier
on the eyes and felt smoother in configuration/use. Were I to
recommend a clipboard for Tails with no conditions, I would
probably recommend "clipman"[3] instead of qlipper, but
never the (in *my* Tails use) buggy "parcellite"[4].

[3] "xfce4-clipman", or just "clipman", never failed in my usage.
However, it did require several deps, including files which
are required for use in the XFCE4 desktop environment. It was
smooth as butter in Tails and I actually got a kick out of
using it vs. other clipboard apps, even qlipper.

[4] In my testing of "parcellite" across several Tails
sessions, sometimes it would load correctly, sometimes not.
When it didn't load as it should, the panel icon would not
show at all, just the same black colored panel. But were you
to click where the icon should be in the panel, it presented
menus as normal, but the icon remained invisible. Were you to
quit the app it would crash with a segfault line in the
logs/dmesg output. After the crash you could reload the app
and it would then appear in the panel. In my testing of
parcellite, I would guess the app's icon visibly loaded in
the panel 6/10 times following a new Tails session. (What a
downer, I really like parcellite in other distributions)

-------------------------------------------------
(.) Further details (.)
-------------------------------------------------
- Current version in Debian stable: 5.0.0

https://packages.debian.org/stretch/qlipper

Package: qlipper
Installed Version: 5.0.0
Size: 317 kB
Download: 101 kB
------------------------------------------------
- Current version in Debian testing: 5.1.1

https://packages.debian.org/buster/qlipper
------------------------------------------------
- Current version @ official site: 5.1.1 / 2017-12-08

https://github.com/pvanek/qlipper/blob/master/CHANGELOG
------------------------------------------------
- Official site:

https://github.com/pvanek/qlipper
-------------------------------------------------

Thank you for your consideration of qlipper.