Change your file manager



Hello guys and thank you all for your replays, I was just wonder if there was any possibility to run two different file managers on the same install.
 
Capta, hi :), what part of the world are you in currently?

Screenshot below


VlqHHEZ.png


Left to right and top to bottom are

  • Caja, default FM for MATE DE
  • Nautilus (aka Files) default for GNOME DE
  • Nemo, default FM for Cinnamon DE and
  • Thunar, default FM for Xfce DE
Test environment was Linux Mint 18.3 'Sylvia' Cinnamon, ie Nemo is the default FM.

(Debian-based) command was

Code:
sudo apt-get -y install caja nautilus thunar

I will revert later, using my Timeshift snapshot, stored prior.

A "casualty" or "collateral damage" was that somewhere between the installs, I lost my desktop wallpaper, hence the black background.

Cheers

Chris
 
Hello Chris @wizardfromoz
In a few days we are arriving Barrow Island west Australia.
Thanks for your screenshot. If you read my OP I'm looking a way to start i3 on my Mint installation with Thunar and let default installation with Caja.
 
I think Konqueror used to be the best FM. It did everything back in the old days of KDE 3.x. Probably earlier versions were just as good, I just hadn't jumped on the Linux wagon till 3.5 (I think). Anyway, the KDE folks have been hacking away at it and really removed much of what I used to like about it. I think they keep taking away from it so that users will stop using it and move to Dolphin, which is the FM they have made default since the move to KDE 4.0. I gave up on Konqueror years ago, but still miss the way it used to be.
 
Hello guys and thank you all for your replays, I was just wonder if there was any possibility to run two different file managers on the same install.
Sure you can, but there's no need for that. The most of the file managers (including Nemo and my favorite: PCManFM) support tabs. So you can use the file manager exactly like your web browser - one window, infinite number of tabs. Simply middle click (scroll button) on the directory you wanna open in a new tab. Using the same method (middle click on the tab name) you close each tab. ;)

This is a screenshot of my PCManFM with tabs but Nemo and the majority of the file managers can do exactly the same.

pcmanfm.png
 
Thank you @rado84 this is very nice & really handy but unfortunately is not what I'm looking for :rolleyes:;)
 
Thank you @rado84 this is very nice & really handy but unfortunately is not what I'm looking for :rolleyes:;)
If by "two different file managers" you mean one PCManFM, one Nemo and one Caja (for instance) - ofc you can. The file manager is nothing but a program, so you can install and use as many as you like - all run simultaneously. But only one file manager can be set as default manager.
 
Ok ! Look I download in my Mint Mate installation, i3 WM.
i3 is cooperating very well with tunar FM and u can have into i3 a really desktop manager.
Caja is not doing that.
So my original question is if I can use tunar once I logging into my i3 by default and use caja once I logging into my normal DE by default.
 
Ok ! Look I download in my Mint Mate installation, i3 WM.
i3 is cooperating very well with tunar FM and u can have into i3 a really desktop manager.
Caja is not doing that.
So my original question is if I can use tunar once I logging into my i3 by default and use caja once I logging into my normal DE by default.
There's only one way to find out - go to system settings and find something that's called "Default programs". In my language it's called "preferred programs". Open it and for "Files" choose the manager you want. Then logout and run the other DE. Open "Default programs" and see what FM is set there. If it's the one you already chose in the previous DE, then the answer to your question is "no". If the selection is empty (no FM name), then the answer is "yes".
 
Rado has introduced an element that is worth looking at, but Capta and all of us (myself included :)) are getting a little confused, and nuances in language and translation do not help, either, although we have some very good speakers of English involved.

Capta -
1. Your last Post was the first time you had mentioned Thunar FM, was that intended?
2. You first thought you were using Nemo FM, when in fact it is Caja FM, but in your favour was the false positive from the command xdg-mime
3. The Thread Title is "Change your file manager", but with the introduction by you of i3 WM ... that is a Window Manager

For clarification of all, Capta's OP (original post) said, in part

I have a question. My default file manager for LM Mate is "nemo". When I ran my LM Mate with i3 wm, nemo file manager is not cooperating.
Is there any way to change file manager only when I ran i3 wm? Or I should completed change it?

Then, also from your last Post

..once I logging into my normal DE by default.

... and so we are now bringing DE (desktop environment) into the picture, is that intended?

When you get to your Mint login screen, are you able to choose between logging into the default MATE, and/or one or more other choices, if so which?

Cheers all

Wizard
 
When you get to your Mint login screen, are you able to choose between logging into the default MATE, and/or one or more other choices, if so which?


Wizard

Chris all of the above are correct and also, yes, in Mint login screen I am able to choose between default MATE and / or i3 .

So if I choose MATE I would like to use Caja (and not Nemo as mistaken refer in OP) and if I choose i3 I would like to use Thunar /nemo whatever anyway is cooperating with i3.
All this would be preferably to be done by default.
 
Gotcha, thanks Mate (not MATE :D)

I'll keep my eyes out for some options.

BTW on what Rado said - I am in my Tessa MATE at the moment, and it is as he said with the Settings, English rendition is as "Preferred Programs". My Files option initially showed as blank, but when I clicked the field, Caja appeared. So if I add another FM, I will likely get the choice.

Cheers

Chris
 
There's only one way to find out - go to system settings and find something that's called "Default programs". In my language it's called "preferred programs". Open it and for "Files" choose the manager you want. Then logout and run the other DE. Open "Default programs" and see what FM is set there. If it's the one you already chose in the previous DE, then the answer to your question is "no". If the selection is empty (no FM name), then the answer is "yes".


I will revert my northern :) friend
 
So if I add another FM, I will likely get the choice.
I'm 90% sure you'll be able to set a different FM for the given DE. The reason for that are my recent VM experiments with different distros and DEs. During one of these experiments I saw a message saying that if I choose another configuration of the DE, I will lose all the changes I have made to the current one. Considering "Preferred programs" comes with the DE, it makes sense for it to be independently configurable for each of the installed DEs.
 
Hey guys sometimes I am so newbie !

Caja is working perfect with i3 ( I can imagine this is one of the reasons that Debian included in official repos and you can install i3 direct from them).

Playing around, I realized that if you just type "caja" in your terminal or much better "caja &" your files appears in a separate window.
So no need to install another FM.
For a reason that I don't know caja is not appears in dmenu when I am using Mod+D (anyway not really matters).
Unfortunately I can't sent a screenshots, this is the next thing I have to config in my i3.:oops::rolleyes::)
Be back!

Cheers
 
Of course guys, you (me) can continue to check if there is a way to have two different FM by default.
 
If you don't have a chains, in this case file manager, I suggest you to try WM like fluxbox and similar, so you can "wear" your linuxbox with favourite programs. The reason lie to WM it's clear. Yes! You must find all programs and configure WM manually, so at the end your linuxbox ti's very performance. Under WM I prefer spacefm as file manager, that I launch as a daemon at startup (spacefm -d &).
I saw on interntet that many users, whith high resources pc, using WM rather than DE (Gnome, KDE, XFCE ecc...); anyway it's a personal choose.
 
Hello guys!!! Long time no see each other. I currently study for my MSc and no time for Linux.

I have a question. My default file manager for LM Mate is "nemo". When I ran my LM Mate with i3 wm, nemo file manager is not cooperating.
Is there any way to change file manager only when I ran i3 wm? Or I should completed change it?
Others have already answered you but I'll drop my nickle anyway.
The file manager is just like any other program. Therefore you can replace it easily. It's not recommended to uninstall Nemo cuz it's tied up to the desktop but you can simply download any other FM and make it the default one in the Mint's settings for preferred programs.
Many months ago I tried all file managers out there and PCManFM agreed with me the most. I'm using it ever since. Well, it doesn't have the right click option to open a folder as root but I don't need it anyway, so it's not a problem for me.
 

Members online


Top