Complain about linux file managers

xiuyu song

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The task is easy with shell command.

However, it is a challenge for most of GUI file managers available in linux.

It is copy/paste cut/paste for file, when your choose to view/list from options, and your destination folder has more files than it can be displayed in one page. Use right click, you can cut files from the source folder, but in destination folder, right click anyway will highlight a row, and the context menu would not have paste option.

It is not fatal, but it is super awkward to request to operate in the icons/compact mode to find a place to click. How could all the GUI designer ignore this?
 


Hi @xiuyu song, and welcome to the site!

How about just using CNTL-V to paste the file after you open the destination folder?

Cheers
 
my left ctrl key not response very well, and it would be weird when unpaired operation for copy/cut to paste, paste into folder can be used, but feel not so natural.
 
It is not fatal, but it is super awkward to request to operate in the icons/compact mode to find a place to click. How could all the GUI designer ignore this?

I'm not sure what you mean by "awkward" here... but this seems like the solution. I'm using the Caja file manager with Linux Mint, and I see your problem clearly when Caja is in "List View". There is no way to right-click and paste into that view, except to right-click on a folder and paste into that folder (or use CNTL-V as I said before). But changing from List View to either "Compact View" or "Icon View" leaves plenty of white space to right-click and paste into.

If you insist on "List View"... a workaround for you is to go up one level from where you want to paste, so then you can right-click on that folder and say "Paste Into Folder".

If you happen to be also using Caja, you can also use the View menu and choose "Extra Pane" (shortcut F3)... this will allow you to have 2 panes, one with List View and the other with Icon or Compact View to use for your right-click and paste operations.

If you're using another distro and file manager, please let us know so we can try to explore other options with the one that you are using.

Cheers
 
Thanks atanere:
Ctrl+v, the compact view and paste into folder are the methods I use right now. None feels as natural as available context menu paste here. Just wondering why no one else complain. ctrl+v need 1pound pressure on the ctrl key or throw mouse aside and then grab it again, others need more clicks (I use detailed list view all the time). Awkward means more mouse clicks for unknown reason.
 
I have to say that I agree with you. It's really annoying that it's not possible to right click and paste in list view. There is work arounds for this, but I think it should work anyhow.
 
Hello @xiuyu song 你好. a belated welcome to you, and also a brand new welcome to @Jani Rutanen … sounds Finnish?

I agree with what you say, and I cannot answer the why?

However if you are prepared to think outside the box, consider the following:

With most Linux Distros I use (typically 60 – 70 onboard at any one time, and have tried over 100), you have the opportunity to try a different File Manager by simply installing it from your Repositories.

For example, I am writing this from within Linux Mint 18.2 ‘Sonya’ Cinnamon, whose default FM is Nemo.

However, if you go to Synaptic Package Manager, and type in the Search field “file manager”, you can find a host of other options.

Apart from the Top Four:

  • Caja
  • GNOME’s Nautilus (aka “Files”)
  • Dolphin and
  • Nemo (preinstalled)
... there are numerous others, including

  • gnome commander
  • krusader
  • mc (Midnight Commander)
and on and on.

You can get a feel for the various FMs by Googling up eg “gnome commander images” and see what might suit. A number of these are “twin-pane” and might suit drag and drop.

Providing an example, I have just installed gnome commander, and the screenshots below illustrate vertical and horizontal layouts of what appears to be a fully featured FM.


3VgzrJe.png



and


mugdqkt.png



I moved the highlighted GIMP file from Point A to B by drag and on drop you get a context-sensitive options list of copy to, move to, &c.

With the lower pane in the horizontal setup, you can get more empty space by resizing or maximising.

I do note that you said in your OP (original post)

for most of GUI file managers available in linux.

so if you have already tried these, my regrets.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE VIEWERS

If you choose to install another FM, do not delete or remove your existing one, this will cripple your Desktop Environment (DE) and you will need to reinstall it. The two are linked and dependent upon each other.

Cheers

Wizard
 
Hello @xiuyu song 你好. a belated welcome to you, and also a brand new welcome to @Jani Rutanen … sounds Finnish?

I agree with what you say, and I cannot answer the why?

However if you are prepared to think outside the box, consider the following:

With most Linux Distros I use (typically 60 – 70 onboard at any one time, and have tried over 100), you have the opportunity to try a different File Manager by simply installing it from your Repositories.

For example, I am writing this from within Linux Mint 18.2 ‘Sonya’ Cinnamon, whose default FM is Nemo.

However, if you go to Synaptic Package Manager, and type in the Search field “file manager”, you can find a host of other options.

Apart from the Top Four:

  • Caja
  • GNOME’s Nautilus (aka “Files”)
  • Dolphin and
  • Nemo (preinstalled)
... there are numerous others, including

  • gnome commander
  • krusader
  • mc (Midnight Commander)
and on and on.

You can get a feel for the various FMs by Googling up eg “gnome commander images” and see what might suit. A number of these are “twin-pane” and might suit drag and drop.

Providing an example, I have just installed gnome commander, and the screenshots below illustrate vertical and horizontal layouts of what appears to be a fully featured FM.


3VgzrJe.png



and


mugdqkt.png



I moved the highlighted GIMP file from Point A to B by drag and on drop you get a context-sensitive options list of copy to, move to, &c.

With the lower pane in the horizontal setup, you can get more empty space by resizing or maximising.

I do note that you said in your OP (original post)



so if you have already tried these, my regrets.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO THE VIEWERS

If you choose to install another FM, do not delete or remove your existing one, this will cripple your Desktop Environment (DE) and you will need to reinstall it. The two are linked and dependent upon each other.

Cheers

Wizard



Great post, wizardformoz. Gnome commander reminds me android's Ghost and Total Commander, and Norton Tools for dos.

I in fact have tried many DE's default browsers, all seems to have the same issue. It seems that linux UI developers neglect some considerate design of windows, however, sometimes it turned out very frustrating, yum update, for example, simply prints a message that two libraries are conflicting and quit everything, after minutes of download for the listed 800+ updates, and never want to update all those are not involved in the conflict in any sense, apparently they think user should resolve the conflict then take another 10 minutes to catch another conflict, till the update can be smoothly carried out.
However,
 
@xiuyu song ... I understand where you are coming from ;)

I believe as with many, that Linux lets itself down a lot in terms of lack of documentation readily accessible to the User, and in particular, the newcomer (newbie, noob), of which I still consider myself one after nearly 6 years.

With my Debian-based Distros, I usually leave the Welcome screen checked to show at startup, because it provides a quick point and click option for eg Documentation and Forums. In Manjaro (Arch-based) it is the "Hello" window, likewise.

For all the wonderful diversity of Linux, the existence of or splitting into "Families" can be daunting and confusing to many, with different protocols used, and different Terminal (CLI) commands between Debian-based, RPM-based, Arch-based, Gentoo-based, Slackware-based and on and on. o_O

Just look at commands for downloading let alone installing, and we have aptitude, apt, apt-get, yum, dnf, zypper, urpmi ... and again, on and on.

The overused and nebulous "they" (most often the Linux Developers) don't do themselves a lot of favours to recruit people to our FOSS cause.

I truly think "they" should have a big think-fest once a year, perhaps two years, where they come together and try to engineer similarities instead of nurturing differences they believe make them stand out from the rest of the pack.

But this is a rant and verging Off (your) Topic, so back to business. :D

I note from your reference to "yum update" that you are using an RPM-based Distro, and likely one that has not yet deprecated yum in favour of DNF. For The Viewers, "yum" is the Yellowdog Update Modifier", and its likely successor DNF is "DaNdiFied yum".

If you let us know what Linux you are using, down to the version number and dot-point release (or rolling) and desktop environment (DE) ... eg I am writing this from my Manjaro 'Gellivara' 17.0.6 64-bit with the GNOME DE ... we might have some more input from people with ideas for you?

I would like to spend more time on this issue, but I have a number of "babies to put to bed", with an upcoming Tutorial on Timeshift for which I have completed 70% of the textual instructions and one out of three Youtube videos. And then 2 more commitments I have triaged. I get sidetracked easily (Adult ADD/ADHD) and I am trying to get organised.

Bear in mind too that there are frequent new developments by key figures within the industry, and one that springs to mind was MATE (pron. "mar-tay" after a South American tea-like beverage). It was authored by a fellow known as "Perberos" from Rio Negro, Argentina. He was an Arch user who was not happy with the way GNOME 2 was headed towards GNOME 3.

So let's keep our eyes and ears open for new goodies, and if you have not already bookmarked DistroWatch, do yourself a favour. https://distrowatch.com/

Cheers for now

Wizard
 
@xiuyu song, I agree with you there's room for improvement in file managers, like the problem you mention or the absence of a mouse selection rectangle on list view. Maybe Dolphin is the one with "better" options.

A quick overview of "popular" file managers follows, mainly for the list view mode. Note some distributions ship a customized file manager, custom actions or extensions, therefore some options could differ...

Caja (Mate desktop file manager) has a:
  • Paste Into Folder context menu option
  • Edit menu with Paste, Move To..., Copy To... options
  • Move To... context menu option (limited)
  • Copy To... context menu option (limited)
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method: changes behavior when used in conjunction with Ctrl or Alt key.
  • Dual-pane view

Deepin File Manager (Deepin desktop file manager) has a:
  • Paste context menu option, to paste into current folder click on a non-highlighted white-space zone (before/after/between text in columns...)
  • Drag & drop move method. Ctrl key changes behavior to copy
  • Selection rectangle works on blank spaces

Dolphin (Plasma/KDE desktop file manager) has a:
  • Paste context menu option, when a folder is highlighted acts as Paste into folder
  • Paste context menu option, to paste into current folder click anywhere but on a folder/file name
  • Move To... context menu option (if not present can be enabled from preferences)
  • Copy To... context menu option (if not present can be enabled from preferences)
  • Edit menu with Paste option (if menu toolbar is enabled)
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method. Ctrl and Shift keys changes behavior
  • Dual-pane view mode
  • Selection rectangle works

GNOME Files (formerly Nautilus) has a:
  • Paste Into Folder context menu option
  • Paste option in the sandwich/hamburger menu (this option could have been removed in latest versions)
  • Move To... context menu option
  • Copy To... context menu option
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method: changes behavior when using mouse's middle button, or in conjunction with Ctrl or Alt key modifiers.

Nemo (Cinnamon file manager) has a:
  • Paste Into Folder context menu option
  • Edit menu with Paste, Move To..., Copy To... options
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method: changes behavior when used in conjunction with Ctrl or Alt key modifiers.
  • Dual-pane view

PCManFM (LXDE file manager) has a:
  • Paste context menu option, when a folder is highlighted acts as Paste into folder
  • Paste context menu option, to paste into current folder click anywhere else than the Name column
  • Edit menu with Paste, Move To..., Copy To... options
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method: changes behavior when used in conjunction with Ctrl or Alt key modifiers.
  • Selection rectangle works when clicking anywhere else than the Name column

Thunar (Xfce file manager) has a:
  • Paste Into Folder context menu option
  • Edit menu with Paste option
  • Drag & drop move/copy/link method: changes behavior when used in conjunction with Ctrl or Ctrl+Shift key combination
  • Paste context menu option when clicking on a non highlighted area of any column other than Name
  • No split-pane (but there's a thunar-split fork)


Some file manager also have a side pane where files can be dropped to the desired directory. As mentioned earlier, there are other than the default DE file managers (for instance Polo, SpaceFM...)
For other features Wikipedia has a comparison of file managers
 
WOW ... nice post, friend @nuna :D, and I have bookmarked that Wikipedia page

Wizard
 

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