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When I want to copy text from LibreOffice to an gmail in the Chrome browser, the clipboard does not work unless I keep the text document of LibreOffice open.

How can I fix this limitation or is it just a matter of waiting for improvements?

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What you have noticed is a known feature or, depending on one's perspective, a bug of the X clipboard system.

A LibreOffice developer, Michael Meeks, argues this way:

The X clipboard system relies on the app owning the selection to provide the data; if you close the app - that app isn't there; so it will fail.

There are various (varyingly expensive) hacks around this out there in various desktops; that try to serialise the clipboard at various points - I guess this could be done before exit.

Problems abound: eg. select 2^36 cells in a sheet, hit copy, exit LibreOffice - what happens ? ;-> but - that's always the way with big sheets I guess.

Are you certain this is an unexpected bug ? :-)

Two blogs in 2010 by an interested student, Sarah Strong, provide readable background information:
- GSoC: Clipboard Persistence for Ubuntu
- Clipboard managers for Ubuntu: Patching is hard, let's go shopping! ...for clipboard managers

She has also written ClipboardPersistence which deals with the issue. But note that this wiki page was last updated in 2010 and some links aren't functional; also, the list of applications that "work" and those that don't may be different now with LibreOffice still being a prominent member of the latter. To quote another LibreOffice developer, Björn Michaelsen, "since more and more other apps are using the workaround, we start to stick out".

Then, Ask Ubuntu also has information related to your question. Look at Why might I want to use a clipboard manager?

So, in answer to your question, just install Parcellite from the Software Center but keep in mind the potential performance cost.

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