FWIW I made a habit to cmd-C any long text I write before I submit anything. Years of lost comments taught me the hard way, lol.

I think there are also "form saver" browser extensions that can back up form data automatically for you in case of a failed submission/browser crash.

HN is old-school and the UI doesn't seem to a big priority. I wouldn't count on it changing much... people here like it that way.