> [G]ive me plain links that I can middle click on to open new tabs.

[Stampede of +1s]

It's really sad that WeB ApPlIcAtIoNs seem to be synonymous with broken no-choice-but-left-click navigation. Yes, I consider that broken.

I only remember to right-clicking the tab to try duplicating it about half the time, and that works maybe 60% of the time I do try it.

I mean, I create SPA's where this just works for nearly every navigation element. With a proper "route-first" design, this is not that hard. Of course, it is a bit more work to perform url navigation even when merely opening a subview, but it's definitely worth it.

I share your annoyance at all websites who don't allow for this though.

I wish Wireshark also had tabs that you could clone with middle-click.