Searching for perfect tools seams to have a long tradition. Also switching from gui tools to cli tools back to gui and so one is a great game. This time i decided to try out some cli file managers.
Since we are working on the cli it is a massive benefit if the software supports vi keybindings.
At first i tried a recommended tool called ranger.
It feels very naturaly when you browse your dictionaries and it looks like the osx finder in console mode - maybe the finder "adopt" his design from a cli tool that i do not know so i do not know if the compare is correct, do not blame me for that ;-).
It still feels a bit under development but it is no wasted time if you give him a try.
A short howto can be found here
Second file manager i tried is vifm. It is definitly a file manager for vi lovers :-).
Vifm provides, if wished, a two panel view like used by mc.
Since i am a vi (i know vi is the center of eVIl), i like working with vifm and with the option of having a two panel layout if feels like mc on (vi) dope :-D. This tool definitely get a "try it out" mark, do it!
A short help can be found here
If i have never told you before, i am a really big fan of the "tab" concept. I was an early adopter of the mozilla suite (version 0.8 somewhat) while the software was full of bugs and was crashing more often the windows me. I am also a friend of the orthodox filemanagers concept and while browsing trough the world wide web i found a nice one called doublecmd.
Doublecmd itself is a file manager and behaves like the well known total commander. Do not get me wrong, i would use total command if they would provide a linux version - as far as i remember this was main reason to "go for a hunt" on the www to finde something similar to the total commander.
In the end i found the doublecmd, installed it and now love it.
So what are the main features of the doublecmd?
It is a double window filemanager
You can work on multiple paths and directorys by using tabs
Supports multiple renaming
Move file operations to queue
Use archives like directorys
Supports plug-ins
Portable version available
Try it out, it is hard not to use it. And when there will be a opportunity to donate, please do so as i will.
So far, thats for all the fish doublecmd developers!
While browsing through the web and "in the search of the perfect file manager", i found one that comply my requirements quite well.
The requirements are "tabbed browsing", lightweight and fast. I don't need any kind of skinning/theming or eye candy stuff. While reading a lot like 10 file managers for linux or 10 file managers for ubuntu and trying them out a lot, i'm stucked with pcmanfm. This file manager is fast, has tabs and also bookmarks.
Yesterday a friend of mine found another one called qtfm.org. With qtfm, you can easily integrate scripts and use them via hot keys. It is smart two, so i just use pcmanfm "because i use it". But maybe qtfm has the benefit you are searching for.
Why no twin-panel filemanger? The answere is simple, two panels are not enough when i'm sorting files. I know i can use double commander but ... wellm you've already readed the because ;-).