Writer permits the creation of less-than-full-page sections with a number of columns different from the section before and after. (for example, a quarter-page section with two columns: insert → columns)

However this setup breaks as soon as one adds a footnote to one of the paragraphs inside the column section :

A. the correct handling for an heavily columned document is to add the footnote at the end of the column section, in the last column (even if this end is in the middle of the page). That's what newspapers do

B. the correct handling for a small column section added for effect, is to place the footnote at the end of the page, even if the document continues with the next section before the end of the page

Ideally Writer would propose both options.

However it does neither. Adding a footnote to a column section forces the section to continue till the end of the page. You get the worst of both worlds:

1. the footnote is far removed from the column content, as in B, but there is a lot of ugly whitespace between the end of the section and the footnote. That kills column usefulness as small chapter heading

2. the footnote is contiguous with the column content, as in A, but not formatted column-wise. That kills footnotes in newspaper-like documents. 

Please fix.