|
Softpanorama
(slightly skeptical)
Open Source Software Educational Society |
May the
source be with you,
but remember the KISS principle ;-)
|
OFM Bulletin, Vol 11 (2007)
2. Doszip Commander (GPL, open source)
Project page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/doszip/
By Hjort Nidudsson . A new Norton Commander
clone … test it :-) It is very small and fast. Written mostly in 1996…1997
. Development has recently (2007) stopped, but as last fix the author
updated it to support LFN ! Has built-in support for unZIPping - no
PKUNZIP or similar needed, but supports only PKZIP 2.xx format incl.
decryption. No ZIP creation, no support for other archive types.
It is the only one written in Borland C (use version
3.1, DOS 16-bit real mode).
Connect (CN, IBM Handshaker) — Integrated
shell with impressive Norton Commander-style file manager.
* * * *
[added 1998-10-29, updated 2004-11-09]
Among freeware programs, Connect is truly in a class of its own.
Connect is not just a file manager – but a multi-component programming
environment and general shell. Connect can function as a nearly complete
"desktop" environment. It sports a text mode, mouse- & menu-driven,
multiple document ("Borland") interface. The various components share
a common clipboard (even the configuration text boxes have clipboard
support).
Screenshot.
Connect incorporates several noteworthy units that should interest the
non-programmer:
- File Manager: Movable, sizable, and iconize-able directory panels
allow you to view as much – or as little – information as desired
(even the width of the name column is adjustable to show short or
long filenames under Win9x). Drag and drop copy and move capability.
One prominent feature is the "unfold subdirectories" option which
allows you to display a single virtual directory of files contained
in multiple selected directories and their subdirectories. Connect
displays popular archives as directories, displays file descriptions,
and has Win9x LFN and clipboard support. Includes a good file finder
which can search in archives. Here's a
720
x 400 screenshot.
- Viewers for text, dbase, and html (with hyperlink navigation
– nice).
- Impressive text editor handles large files; permits multi-file
text search / replace with regular expressions. Capable of Drag
and Drop of text between *different* editing windows.
Screenshot.
- Capable hex editor (can hex-edit multiple files).
- Other: VT100 terminal (with X-, Y-, Z-modem, Kermit protocol
support), phonebook, dialer, alarm, print spooler, CD player, programming
features, and lots more.
- Y2K compliant.
See the included READMEEN.HTM for an English overview of features.
For a more in-depth evaluation of Connect see the
OFM
Paradigm page at Softpanorama.
Install notes: Unzip with create directories option. Modify cn.bat
to point to Connect directory, adjust default archive and other settings
as necessary. Installed files require about 6MB.
Disadvantages: Some configuration settings are nested deep within
menus and may be difficult to locate during the initial learning phase.
Many readers will not benefit from the help files because they are composed
in Russian only.
Tips: Investigate the interface with the mouse – there are many context
sensitive areas. Press both left and right mouse buttons when attempting
to use drag and drop copy in file manager (and editor). Many file manager
setting dialogs (e.g., display options, archive settings) are accessed
through a right button pop up menu in file manager (same for the terminal).
To view DBF files select a dbf file and invoke the VIEW command.
Here's
another review at Softpanorama.org.
Authors: Ian Balter, Ukraine; Dima Orlov, Israel (2002).
2002-09-16: v7.5. See docs for version history (in Russian).
Download
cn.zip (1.4MB).
For support files, source and info in English and Russian, go to
the CONNECT files at Kiarchive,
http,
or ftp,
and to Dima Orlov's
CONNECT program
support page (which also has an OS/2 version).
Mi-Shell (MSH) — Configurable and
programmable Norton Commander-like shell.
unrated
[added 2004-12-17, updated 2005-12-09]
Mi-Shell is an interesting hybrid, a Norton Commander interface with
a Unix-style structure. This large program can be run in one of two
basic ways: "Out of the box" as an expanded Norton-style shell, or user-configured
by means of scripts (ASCII files) and substitution of components. Mi-Shell
starts up using a default script, CONFIG.MSH, which is itself a program,
written in the MSH script language, that sets parameters for shell functions.
CONFIG.MSH also calls up other, external programs that perform many
functions. User-configuration can consist of changing the operation
of internal functions, or replacing the default external programs, or
both.
From the author's description:
...although MSH with all its configuration files has a rather large
memory footprint (180K), it swaps itself out of memory when executing
any command so its footprint is reduced to 20K (the swapping is
by default to extended memory; you can set it so if you have no
XMS it swaps to a directory you specify which may be a virtual disk
in EMS); you can enable or disable the swapping selectively for
selected programs, to take in account any particular requirements.
Some default support programs that can be changed by the user: On
opening, Mi-Shell looks for the
Berkeley Utilities, and will use some of them for standard functions.
File / directory comparison tool is
Delta. File editor is the standalone MWE (this one is included).
Mi-Shell has many other functions, and many possibilities for expansion
through use of the scripting language.
Author: Jean Michel,
France (1997). Distributed by OPENetwork.
1997-08-17: v2.2. Formerly paid commercial software, now in the public
domain and completely free.
Download msh.zip
(196K).
Go to Mi-Shell, The
Programmable Shell, at
OPENetwork, for a
longer introduction with screenshots.
Top dozen of FAR plug-ins
[Dec 17, 2007] 7-Zip
7-zip can work via plug-in for FAR
- High compression ratio in new
7z format with LZMA
compression
- Supported formats:
- Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR
- Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO,
RPM, DEB and NSIS
- For ZIP and GZIP formats, 7-Zip provides a compression ratio
that is 2-10% better than the ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
- Self-extracting capability for 7z format
- Integration with Windows Shell
- Powerful File Manager
- Powerful command line version
- Plugin for FAR Manager
- Localizations for 69 languages
This old article mentioned one of the few file managers written in TCL/TK
FileRunner is a basic two-panel file manager. You can access almost all of its functions through the scrolling button bar down the center. It's a nice application for users who may not be very familiar with linked files, file permissions, or ownership. Those same users, however, might have trouble with configuration.
FileRunner is highly configurable, but the configuration browser is basically a front end for editing the ~/.fr/config file. Some knowledge of bash command syntax is helpful in using it, though every option is well-documented with examples. FileRunner also handles FTP transfers, proxy configuration, and logging. One of the nicer features is the "foreach" button, which will perform the specified command on each highlighted file. You can also open a command line and resizable output box for each panel. FileRunner is simple enough for a new user, with enough options and examples to be an interesting and informative learning tool as well.
[Dec 5, 2007]
muCommander 0.8.1 by Maxence Bernard
About: muCommander is a cross-platform file manager that features
support for FTP, SFTP, SMB, NFS, HTTP, Bonjour/Zeroconf, email attachments,
Zip/GZip/Tar/Bzip2/ISO/NRG/AR/Deb/LST archives, universal bookmarks,
credentials management, themes, multiple windows, full keyboard management,
and many configuration options. It is available in 18 languages.
Changes: This release adds a bookmark filesystem to navigate
bookmarks, a redesigned theme editor, persistence of column views, automatic
shell encoding detection, enhancements to the drive popup button, improved
bzip2 performance, a better icon representation for symbolic links,
new search functionality in the internal text viewer and editor, and
improved 'quit' and 'delete' confirmation dialogs. A number of bugs
have also been fixed.
New features:
- New bookmark:// filesystem, mapped onto the alt+B shortcut by
default.
Improvements:
- Non-automatic sizing of columns is now working properly and preserved
in the configuration.
- Columns order, sort and visibility are now preserved in the configuration.
- Editors and viewers are now centered on the current window rather
than set to the upper-left corner of the screen.
- Shell encoding is now auto-detected by default, unless a specific
encoding is set in the preferences.
- Simplified and extended the theme editor, with new 'selection outline'
and 'alternate background' values. A new 'Striped' theme has been added
to show these effects off.
- Added keyboard shortcuts for the items in the drive popup button.
- Windows: drives in the drive popup button now show extended names.
- Bzip2 read-access speed substantially improved.
- Improved icon representation of symbolic links.
- 'Delete' dialog now shows the list of file to be deleted (contributed
by Alejandro Scandroli).
- New 'Find' functionality added to the text viewer and editor (contributed
by Mariusz Jakubowski).
- command keyword substitution now applies to marked files as well as
the current selection.
- Quit confirmation dialog now shows the number of open windows and
asks for confirmation when the last window is closed.
[Nov 4, 2007] Problems with Norton Commander for Windows in Win2K and
XP environment
It might be a time for Norton Commander for Windows users to switch
to Total Commander...
In a letter to the editor Josef Priko (Germany) wrote:
Quote [From the OFM ebook] :
"As the product is no longer maintained by Symantec, a reader
informed me that some commands are behaving strangely in newer version
of Windows like Win2K and WinXP. For example for those OSes NCW
fails to compare directories correctly. It falsely says that freshly-copied
files are older. Also it fails to sync for the same reason. This
is probably due to not understanding some newer attributes in the
version of NTFS used in Win2K and XP. It should not have problems
on FAT32 I think."
It is even much worth with Win2K and XP: If you copy deep structured
trees only the higher [levels] were copied correctly, the lower however
only as empty directories! This happens even by copying from or to NetWare
volumes, but only in conjunction with NTFS 3.0/3.1 partitions. And the
worst thing at all: you get no error messages! I never had these problems
with WinNT 4.0 and NTFS 1.2.
A good intro article...
23 August 2007 | polishlinux.org
...Connections
to servers can be performed in a following
way. Choose in menu bar the left or
the right option, select connection
type (ftp, ssh, smb), and then enter
server address, user’s name and user’s
password in the following forms:
user_name:password@server_address
or user_name@server_address.
When using second option you will be
asked for a password. In the case of
a “shell link”, the program will use
protocol called
FISH, designed specially for Midnight
Commander. It is implemented in KDE
as a kio-slave fish:// and used by lftp.
This protocol needs a ssh daemon to
be running on server side of the connection.
To get a quick connection via FTP link
all it takes is to enter in command
line:
cd /#ftp:user_name:password@server_address/directory
eventually, in case of anonymous
user
cd /#ftp:server_address/directory
So, in order to get connected to
popular TASK server you should type
in “cd /#ftp:ftp.task.gda.pl”. In the
same way you will make connection with
ssh server: “cd /#sh:user@server_address/directory”.
RPM and DEB Support
As I said earlier, MC supports two
most popular Linux package systems -
DEB and RPM. If you want to list all
packages installed in your system enter
“cd #rpms” in command line. After a
while the list, grouped according to
categories, will be shown in one of
the MC’s panel. Similar ways can be
applied to systems using DEB packages.
It suffices to write in “cd #apt” or
“cd #dpkg” to be able to look through
all installed programs
F10 key in GNOME-terminal
There is a conflict between GNOME-terminal and MC
shortcuts. It concerns mainly F10 which closes MC, but
is used to open upper menu in GNOME-terminal. In order
to get rid of the nuisance the following command should
be run:
gconf -set /apps/gnome-terminal/global/use_menu_accelerators \
-type boot false
To have original settings one ought to change the
false to a true option. This trick was found on
openSUSE Polish wiki.
PHP Web Commander is an application designed for web server usage.
The basic idea of the program concerns the possibility to manage files,
ftp accounts, database, etc. Similarly to the populars files managers,
the utility is endowed with an user-friendly interface, ensuring the
same level of functional procedures. Supporting a wide range of plugins,
the application allows the user to configure his own Web Commander system,
through miscellaneous commands.
This is essentially reinvention and re-implementation of OFM context
sensitive linage of extension to commands (via ext file) the additional
twist that if there is no extension file type (for example as discovered
by file) is used.
Closebracket lets you define multiple shell actions in a single command
to speed up the typing of the most repetitive shell commands. It includes
']' and '][' commands, which are located near the "Enter" key and are
easy to type quickly. They invoke primary and secondary actions respectively.
File Wizard — Feature-packed file manager with WIN9x/2000 support.
[added 1998-05-17, updated 2005-12-09]
A polished, dual pane, text mode file manager with pulldown menus
and mouse support. Quick, efficient navigation reminiscent of NC. Without
doubt, a top pick if you have a 386+ PC and enjoy customizing your file
manager to suit your specific tastes. After using this program for some
time, I'd have to conclude that File Wizard has entered the same league
as the best shareware competition.
Some features which distinguish File Wizard:
- Can display/edit file descriptions (FILES.BBS
or
DESCRIPT.ION). Also displays titles of HTML files and mp3-TAGs.
- Movable, customizable, and sizable directory panels. Just pull
on a pane to see more information (e.g., file descriptions). Supports
VESA text modes. Customize colors for file extension groups.
- Reads popular archive formats as directories. Reads contents
of ZIP, RAR, ARJ, and ACE archives. Easy on-screen configuration
of archiver parameters.
- Drag and drop COPY, MOVE, and DELETE operations (between archives
too).
- Good file finding function.
- Extension associations.
- Win9x and Win2000 LFN support.
- Full featured integrated CD player.
- Integrated text editor w/ mouse and Win clipboard support (you
can even edit archived files – File Wizard will update the archive)
- MP3 viewer / editor.
- TEXT/HEX viewer.
- Unique built-in screen savers (with screen "hot spot").
- Good built-in help.
- Source code available.
Notes:
- Y2K compliant: Option to display four digit century-year.
- Requires enough XMS memory to make it unusable under Windows
on a system with limited RAM.
- System requirements: 386SX or better processor; 2500 KB RAM
required, 5800 KB recommended; VGA (SVGA for 100,112,132,150 column
modes); Mouse. EXE size: 260K (packed version available).
Author: Antal Dénes Gulyás, Hungary (2002). Suggested by Lars-Erik
Sandberg.
The DISCo Commander (current version - 5.3) was designed as the MS-Windows
clone of Norton Commander 4.0. We tried to give you the best of both
worlds -- all operating environment of Windows and the well known way
to use it exactly like in DOS.
The DISCo Commander was developed in DISCo by: Misha Donskoy, Anthon
Dubec, Vladimir Kokin, Ivan Shabalin
What is new in DISCo Commander
The version 5.3 of the DISCo Commander differs from version
5.2 by adaptation to Windows ME and Windows XP operating systems. The
POP3 protocol access to Internet has been added. Several bugs were fixed.
The version 5.2 of the DISCo Commander differs from version
5.1 by introducing the plug-in extensions. The standard version contains
three plug-ins - for MS Outlook, for Windows CE computers and for Psion
Revo and Psion 5. There are several bugs fixed, in particular the display
of NTFS on Windows NT and 2000.
The version 5.1 of the DISCo Commander differs from version
5.0 by adaptation to Windows 2000.
The version 5.0 of the DISCo Commander has following features
in comparison with the version 4.2:
- The possibility to work on remote computer through Internet
connection both in FTP mode and in the native DISCo Commander mode
for the connection with the DISCo Commander on the remote computer.
In the latter case both the security and convenience are provided
without special system administration.
- The possibility to work with portfolio where links to various
files or directories are stored structured by folders.
- All file operations (copy, rename, delete, search, comparing)
are executed in separated processes which allows not to wait for
the file operation completion and do something else while operation
is executing.
- The correct work with Alt-Gr key is implemented.
- The HTML viewer is as close to browser viewer as possible without
scripts and Java.
- The work with console applications and the User Menu commands
which have several steps is made more effective.
- The File comparing mode is improved.
The following features distinguish the DISCo Commander from the
Norton Commander:
- The possibility to run both DOS and MS-Windows applications;
- Working with Archives as with directories;
- Quick View for graphic files;
- Quick View for files in Archives;
- Multitasking with viewers and with launched applications;
- The possibility to run mixed DOS and Windows commands from the
User Menu;
- The possibility to work in two languages -- English and Russian;
- The full support for Russian file names;
- The possibility to view Russian language files both in DOS and
Windows code tables;
- The full support for working with Network devices;
- The possibility to change the DISCo Commander window size thus
varying the number of strings and columns in the panels;
- The possibility to select fonts;
- The full mouse support;
- The Windows Clipboard usage;
- The dynamic visual signals by cursor shape on available operations.
- The 32-bit version provides also the full support for long file
and UNC names and for OLE-2 drag and drop.
[Sep 15, 2007] pre-release of GNU Midnight Commander 4.6.2 by Pavel
Tsekov
I've just uploaded the tarball to ftp.gnu.org.
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/mc/mc-4.6.2-pre1.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/mc/mc-4.6.2-pre1.tar.gz.sig
...This is release is mostly a bugfix release and some new features.
Perhaps I could compile a list of changes if I get some free time...
[Sep 9, 2007] New MC maintainer
Pavel Tsekov becomes MC maintainer. He is probably the most active
member of the current development team.
Hello,
I am writing this message to inform you that Pavel Roskin,
the long time maintainer and developer of GNU Midnight Commander,
decided to step down as a maintainer. I hope that you'll join me
to wish Pavel luck in whatever he pursues next.
The FSF following a recommendation from Pavel Roskin appointed me
as the new project maintainer. I hope that I'll be able to justify
their trust and live up to the expectations of MC's users.
Pavel Tsekov
WinSCP is an open source SFTP client and FTP client for Windows.
Its main function is the secure file transfer between a local and
a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager
functionality. It uses Secure Shell (SSH) and supports, in addition
to Secure FTP, also legacy SCP protocol.
[More]
WinSCP is also available as a plugin to two file managers,
FAR and
Altap Salamander.
Nice write-up !
Norton Commander (commonly shortened to "NC") is an
Orthodox
File Manager
(OFM) program, written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing
(later acquired by the Symantec corporation). NC is a
file manager
which essentially acts as the graphical user interface for DOS. It was
officially produced by Symantec between 1986 and 1998.
Ease of use of NC is based on constant ability to confront two file
manipulation objects at once. After starting the program, the user sees
two panels with file lists, each of which can be easily configured to
show information about the other panel, a directory tree, or a number
of other options. At the bottom of the screen, NC displays a list of
commands, extended on demand by the CTRL and ALT keys. Thus, without
heavy use of the mouse (though mouse functionality was integrated around
version 3.0), the user is able to perform many file manipulation actions
quickly and efficiently. In addition, the built-in text file viewer
(called with F3) and editor (F4) made NC in fact the DOS tool for power
users.
After Microsoft released Windows 95 and a large number of users migrated
to the new graphic OS, NC temporarily became less popular due to the
forced popularity of Windows Explorer and lack of supporting new Long
File Names standard. In turn, Symantec released NC 5.5, which supports
the LFNs and thus became again useful and popular on a typical Windows
partition. NC 5.5 uses LFN API, and if user wants use LFNs, it must
work in Windows GUI, or in presence of DOSLFN or similar TSR while working
in plain DOS. Otherwise LFN support doesn't work and NC 5.5 would have
to truncate LFNs.
Despite the temporary decline in its use, Norton Commander was very
popular during the DOS era and even after temporarily sinking into obscurity,
which was reverted by new NC 5.5 with LFN support in Windows era, it
has been extensively cloned. These clones are further described below.
After releasing traditional NC 5.5 with added LFN support, a new
pure graphical version of Norton Commander was introduced by Symantec
in 1999, Norton Commander for Windows. This version fully integrates
with Windows (supports even more sophisticated LFNs and the Recycle
Bin) and also provides close integration with a Quick View program that
enables one to view files such as documents from various Microsoft Office
programs, in one of the panels.
For many long-time users and computer collectors, Norton Commander
is a valued piece of software and an object of late-1980s nostalgia,
beginning to get rarer and more valuable as time passes.
EU-Commander - added 3/19/2007
EU-Commander is an ActiveTcl based File Manager
(WinCommander like) with applications bar, internal
editor/viewer, favorits, mime types and some more
modules.
Turbo Navigator - added 12/11/2006
Turbo Navigator is advanced, highly customisable
file manager for Windows NT/2000/XP. It works as
Windows Explorer but with one main difference: it
uses two file panels, as in Symantec’s Norton Commander,
a well known commercial file manager for DOS and
Windows.
Java File Manager - added 11/9/2006
Java File Manager is a Commander-like file manager
also known as an Orthodox file manager. JFM is written
in Java, and supports filesystem plugins to be written
for it. By offering a simple and straight-forward
API, new plugins can be written very easily, extending
the application.
JCommander - added 10/30/2006
JCommander is a next generation file manager targeted
to be powerful and flexible. Being multi-platform
and distributed under an open-source license, it
is freely usable on virtually any platform and operating
system.
You could just use muCommander on Apple
I suspect this will be of most interest to recent switchers and/or
old timers with fond memories of
Norton Commander.
Binarynight's ForkLift is
a new "dual paned file manager the Mac way." As you can see from my
screenshot above it is more or less exactly what you'd expect from a
two-paned file manager, with support for Mac technologies like Spotlight,
Smart Folders, etc. Personally, I think I'll stick with
Path Finder, but if
this is the kind of thing to float your boat, it is available for
download as a time limited
beta
===
A good introductory article
...Because MC is distributed with every known GNU/Linux
system and as a port for BSD systems’ family, its installation
is trivial and rely on making use of a favorite package
manager. It suffices to issue the following command
in Debian/Ubuntu systems:
apt-get install mc
In Fedora/CentOS/Scientific Linux/Red Hat systems:
yum install mc
... There is a possibility to run MC editor alone.
You have to issue a mcedit command adding
a file name with its path, e.g. mcedit /etc/fstab.
... ... ...
Apart from almost identical functionality, TC and MC
enjoy different keyboard shortcuts. The table below
shows comparison of the two groups.
| Functions |
Midnight Commander |
Total Commander |
| Open directory menu |
CTRL + \ |
CTRL + D |
| Compare directories |
CTRL-X + D |
SHIFT + F2 |
| Rescan (refresh panel contents) |
CTRL + R |
F2 |
| Hide panels |
CTRL + O |
SHIFT + ESC |
| Reverse selection |
M + * |
NUM * |
| Find file |
ALT + ? |
ALT + F7 |
| Quick view |
CTRL-X + Q |
CTRL+Q |
| Change file and directory rights - chmod |
Ctrl-X + C |
n. a. |
| Change file and directory owner - chown |
Ctrl-X + O |
n. a. |
| Make symlink |
Ctrl-X + S |
SHIFT+CTRL+F5 |
CTRL-X + D sequence must be issued by pressing together
CTRL and X, and then D button - like in Emacs editor.
A shortcut which should be mentioned here is ESC+0,1,2…9
which replaces all function keys F1 to F10. It is indispensable
in terminals which do not support F1-F10 buttons.
... You can look into ISO images without prior mountings.
All mentioned files are treated as directories. To view
ISO contents it is enough to select it with a mouse
or cursor keys and press Enter. MC offers additionally
a quick-view option where contents of a selected file
will be displayed in adjoining panel. The option is
available through left/right menu options and bound
to CTRL-X + Q shortcut.
... ... ...
...If you want to list all packages installed in
your system enter “cd #rpms” in command line. After
a while the list, grouped according to categories, will
be shown in one of the MC’s panel. Similar ways can
be applied to systems using DEB packages. It suffices
to write in “cd #apt” or “cd #dpkg” to be able to look
through all installed programs.
F10 key in GNOME-terminal
There is a conflict between GNOME-terminal and MC
shortcuts. It concerns mainly F10 which closes MC, but
is used to open upper menu in GNOME-terminal. In order
to get rid of the nuisance the following command should
be run:
gconf -set /apps/gnome-terminal/global/use_menu_accelerators \
-type boot false
To have original settings one ought to change the
false to a true option...
FreeCommander is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard
windows file manager. The program helps you with daily work in Windows.
Here you can find all the necessary functions to manage your data stock.
You can take FreeCommander anywhere - just copy the installation directory
on a CD, USB-Stick or even a floppy disk - and you can even work with
this program on a foreign computer.
Main features in FreeCommander:
- Dual-panel technology - horizontal and vertical
- Tabbed interface
- Optional tree view for each panel
- Built in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text or image
format
- File viewer inside archives too
- Built in archive handling: ZIP (read, write), CAB (read, write),
RAR (read)
- Nested archive handling
- Easy access to system folders, control panel, desktop and start
menu
- Copy, move, delete, rename files and folders
- Wipe files
- Create and verify MD5 checksums
- File splitting
- File properties and context menu
- Calculation of folder size
- Folder comparison / synchronization
- Modification of file date and attributes
- Folder / program favorites
- File searching (inside archive too)
- File filters for display
- User defined columns for detailed view
-
DOS command line
-
Multiple language support
A
while back when we
mentioned a preview of ForkLift,
a new 2-pane file manager for the Mac, the comments suggested that I
may have somewhat under-appreciated what it offered. Well ForkLift has
now shipped and appears to include quite a few nice features. Among
these are a full-fledged (S)FTP client, tabs, spring loaded folders,
Amazon S3 support, an Application Deleter (a la AppZapper), the ability
to browse archives as if they were folders, and quite a bit more. For
those moving over from using an
orthodox
file manager on the PC, or for anyone who finds the Finder rather
limiting, ForkLift is worth a look. (Incidentally, if you're interested
in the new Mac indie development company behind ForkLift, BinaryNights,
MacApper had an interesting
interview a while back.)
ForkLift is $30 and a demo
is available.
Binaries are still not available for all major distributions but source
builds on most Linux. I build it on OpenSuse 10.12 from the sources and
experienced no problems with the build. Here is the annocement
Released: 2007-07-21
Well, here we are!
The
Krew is finally bringing you the
last release of Krusader
the file manager. In this release you can expect
many new enhancements and features oriented to both
experts and basic users, finalizing many requests,
that we owed and many that were sitting on our todo
list. We would like to thank all of
the community for keeping us sharp all these
years till the end and start of our final release
cycle.
Highlights:
- Full support for ACL permissions like properties,
preserve attributes, synchronizer and other
- Many terminal emulator enhancements bringing
new functions, new usages and new look
- Many improvements of the UserAction system
- Countless usability enhancements, especially
in Konfigurator and the heavily reordered menubar
- Comparing in the synchronizer interface
and parallel threading over slower servers
- Atomic extensions and ability to rename
the filename, without extension
- Numerous archive enhancements like handling
packing in the background, encryption support,
multiple volume archives, compress level
- Complete list of changes and enhancements
is in the
ChangeLog...
- Next cycle with all our energy and efforts
begins for Krusader on KDE4
Krusader is a very interesting OFM because it is one of the few that
are linked to a particular windows manager (KDE). This has both advantages
and disadvantages.
Among the most interesting solutions I noticed are:
-
The ability quickly switch to the tree view (based on root) in both
panels.
-
Good editor with highlighting for Bash scripts and Perl scripts
(among others)
-
Good GUI-based capabilities -- ability to check properties of file
in starred "GUI"-way
I also noticed some errors/weaknesses
-
Command cd ~joeuser is
interpreted from the command line incorrectly
-
Command line interface does not permit expansion of command line
into a windows in classic NC or Unix screen
style. Midnight command provides limited expansion (with
fully hidden panels for bash only). Far provides ability
to shrink panel and expose underling shell window one
line at a time and currently stands out in this area. Total Commander
is generally on Krusader level (basic level of functionality in this
area)
-
There is no User (start) menu which is the key feature in OFM flexibility
permitting expanding the functionality of OFM with user written shell,
Perl or other scripting language scripts. And there is no built-in macros
and shortcuts for the key elements of the panel (the current file on
active panel, the current file on passive panel, the path to current
panel, the path to passive panel, and so on as defined by the standard)
and thus the ability to extend the OFM with you own commands is extremely
limited. For example it is impossible to create a command that makes
passive panel point to the same directory as active panel (this is possible
in FAR and built-in feature in Midnight Commander)
-
Terminal emulation capabilities are absent, despite the fact that
Krusader is a late addition to the set of Linux/Unix OFMs and it needs
to distinguish it self with something -- screen emulation and better
integration with shell might be those distributing characteristics but
currently those are not Krusader strength.
- AB Commander
- Dual-panel file manager. Features include folder synchronization,
image previewer, file splitting. Shareware. [Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4/2000/XP]
- AB Commander
LITE - Lightweight version of Winability's file manager. Freeware.
[Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4/2000/XP]
- Drag and File Gold
- A full-featured shareware file management utility that supports FTP
and includes drag and zip, and a ZIP management utility. Handles TAR,
GZ, MIME, UUencoded and Xxencoded files.
- Explor2000 - File manager
for Windows 95, 98, NT, combines the qualities of Microsoft Explorer,
WinFile, Norton Commander or XTree Gold for DOS. Available in English,
French and German. Shareware.
- FAR Manager - FAR is a text-mode
shell for Windows 9x/NT/2000 that replaces Norton Commander. Supports
network browsing, FTP, archives, NTFS, long file names.
- Frigate - Handles
compressed archives, FTP, built in file viewers, context sensitive text
editor, wildcard file selection and search, multi-threaded, multi language.
Shareware from Helmsman.
- Gyula's Navigator
- Norton Commander clone for 32-bit Windows. Multiple language support.
Built-in image viewer. Drag-and-drop. Free for personal or educational
use.
- Magellan Explorer - Advanced
file manager with built in FTP, archive client and image viewer. Supports
both dual pane and tree view layout. Highly configurable, evaluation
version is available for download. [Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP]
- Nico's Commander - A shareware
file manager similar to Norton's Commander. Provides a customizable
interface, which displays directory listings in two side by side windows.
Includes built-in graphics viewers and it supports several types of
archive formats with a built-in FTP.
- Servant Salamander
- Two-pane file manager for 32-bit Windows. Features include Find Files,
small size, drag and drop, context menus, and UNC path support.
- Total Commander - Former Windows
Commander, a shareware 16 and 32 bit Explorer replacement for Windows,
with enhanced search function, Built-in FTP client with FXP (server
to server) and HTTP proxy support, and supports long filenames.
- WinNc.Net - File manager with
similar functionality to that of Norton Commander.
- 2xExplorer - A lightweight
fully shell integrated dual-pane explorer replacement, focusing on everyday
usability. Features: Internal text editor, and RTF/HEX viewer, automatic
building of batch files, with numerous other attributes. Compatible
with all 32-bit windows platforms.
The things with TortoiseSVN are even better then you describe.
In fact, "shell extension" does not mean "Windows Explorer Extension"!
Other applications can work with shell extension as well (or better).
Windows Explorer is annoying, right? especially when compared with Orthodox
file manager (OFM, see
OFM on Wikipedia), such as
Total Commander
(highly recommeded).
When combined with Total Commander, TortoiseSVN will really let you
stop worrying and start programming.
Sergey A Kryukov
Servant Salamander Standard 2.5 released April 27, 2007
I only have the FREE version 1.52. A must for any external (i.e.
portable) drive. The only (explorer type) dual pane gui I know of that
needs no install.
===
hey, i am a total commander user but i just like to give a few stars
to salamander cause it just a neat piece of software. it feels like
pastell molded soft plastik, wich is a uniqe and comfortable synesthetic
impression that does not come with any other soft :p . also it is extremly
usable. i used to love the laucher/parameter system (better than tcmd),
though the menu could be more customizeable (worse than tcmd). downside
is the plugin system. can't beat tcmd in that.
A very good overview
Several nteresting old posts from the thread
Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 8:55 pm
Post subject: How I discovered Krusader
|
I have been using MS DOS for years. I could not imagine my life without
norton commander.
Later I have been using MS Windows. I was using WindowsCommander since
version 1.0
I am still using windows at work. I have to. I simply can't imagine
my existence in windows environment without WindowsCommander
When I started to use Linux and later FreeBSD for serious work I was
desperately looking for something, anything, that would resemble WindowsComander
(now Totalcommander) or his predecessor nc. I can't imagine why Gnome,
KDE (and other "desktop") developer try to imitate Microsoft Explorer.
It was like a bad dream. Escaping from MS desktop only to find out that
you have to use file manager that resembles Explorer.
I was using mc and googling for an alternative. I have tired countles
file manager. None of them "felt" right. Until I found Krusader.
Then I found Krusader.
Thank you very, VERY much for your wonderful program.
====
Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:58 pm
Post subject:
Hello to you all,
Well I discovered krusader trhough midnight commander in my own distribution.
I do not remember how exactly. But there are several clues. A post about
midnight commander on the french website framasoft (the path from windows
to free softwares
).
And an answer spoke about krusader I believe... This is the true story
or not... Then I made a small article on those software: midnight comander,
krusader and others ofm-based software. Frank gave me many, many informations
about ofms (thank you) plus other things. And I am here, right now.
I try to finalize the french translation for krusader today...
[Jul 2, 2007] Two new OFM's not previously mentioned on Softpanorama.
Both are from Russia.
Thanks to Y.T.Lim for pointing those.
- Unreal Commander
v0.91 (build 550) − is freeware file manager for Windows®
98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista. Looks like a reverse engineered Total Commander.
You'll be surprised to see how similar they are.
- Worksoft Navigator Home Page
by Dmitry Udalov. Looks like abandonware (not updated since 2004).
Haven't tried this yet
This is an actively developed Java-base OFM.
v0.8 beta3 [03/08/2007]
Windows -
Mac OS X -
Unix
New features:
- Keyboard shortcuts, toolbar and command bar buttons can now be
customized (no GUI yet, see .xml files in preferences folder)
- New theme engine with predefined themes allowing more customization
options (GUI not updated yet)
- Custom file opener and file associations (no GUI yet)
- Drag and Drop support: files can be copied or moved to and from muCommander
windows and other applications, current folder can be changed by dropping
a file or folder on the location field
- Clipboard support: files can be copied and pasted to/from the clipboard
(Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V by default), works with other applications
- New quick search with visual feedback, editable search string, jump
to next/previous matches and ability to cancel it
- Connection pooling (SFTP,FTP) and automatic disconnection after timeout,
active connections can be listed and closed (Shift+Ctrl+K by default)
- New file transfer progress window with 'Pause'/'Resume', 'Skip' current
file and speed limit options, current/total remaining time, elapsed
time, current speed and speed graph, and option to leave the window
open when finished
- Zip, Tar, Gzip, Bzip2 archives can now be created
- Read support for ISO and NRG images over local and SMB filesystems
(contributed by Xavier Martin)
- Read/write support for Bzip2 archives (.bz2, .tbz2, .tar.bz2 extensions)
- Read support for AR and Debian archives, GNU and BSD variants supported
(.ar, .deb extensions)
- Read support for LST catalog files
- Support for HTTP Basic Authentication
- Bonjour/Zeroconf services discovery
- New permissions column in table, sort by permissions option
- File permissions are properly preserved during transfers (Java 1.6
required for local files)
- New 'Change permissions' and 'Change date' dialogs
- 'Run command' is now interactive, allows shell customization, quick
recall of previous commands, color customization, uses the customisable
shell to parse commands.
- Command line options
- Ability to execute remote or archive entries files: these are copied
to a temporary local directory and executed
- Location combo box now allows to quickly recall parent folders
- Icons magnification option for toolbar, command bar and files
- New credentials management: authentication dialog allows to choose
between credentials matching a location, persistent credentials can
be edited using the 'Edit credentials' dialog, passwords are (weakly)
encrypted when stored to disk
- New and improved 'Edit bookmarks' dialog
- New 'Go' menu
- New 'Copy name(s)' and 'Copy path(s)' actions to copy marked files
names / paths (Alt+C / Shift+Alt+C by default)
- New 'Mkfile' action (Shift+F7 by default)
- New 'Mark page up/page down' action (Shift+Page Up/Shift+Page Down
by default)
- New 'Mark up to first/last row' action (Shift+Home/Shift+End by default)
- New 'Split horizontally', 'Split vertically', 'Split equally' actions
in 'Window' menu
- Added show/hide columns to 'View' menu
- 'Reveal in desktop' now available for Windows, KDE, GNOME (on top
of Mac OS X)
- Ability to open files with native file associations under KDE and
GNOME
- Ability to open URLs under KDE and GNOME
- 'Show .DS_Store files' option under Mac OS X
- 'Show system folders' option under Mac OS X
- 'Change current location' keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+G by default)
- 'Reveal in desktop' keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+L by default)
- New file icons for Mac OS X and Windows executables, libraries, Java,
Powerpoint and Visual studio files
- New toolbar icon for 'Reveal in desktop'
- New 'Report a bug' item in 'Help' menu
- Windows: new mucommander.exe launcher replacing both mucommander.bat
and mucommander.jar
Improvements:
- Major code cleanup before source code release
- Improved file handling performance, especially under Windows
- Optimized handling of Zip and Tar archives which can now be accessed
much faster
- Faster table rendering
- Toolbar and command bar now contextually show whether the action can
be triggered or not
- Free/total volume space now automatically refreshes (every 60 seconds)
- Status bar shows a graphical representation of the amount of free
space on the current volume (where available)
- 'File collision' dialog improved, attempts to transfer a folder to
one of its subfolders are now detected
- KB/MB/GB/TB are now calculated accurately by multiples of 1024 instead
of 1000
- Decimal and thousands separators are now localized
- Environment variables are now retained when using 'Run command'
- In-table file renaming now used everywhere instead of 'Rename' dialog
- In-table file renaming must now to be validated by ENTER for safety
reasons
- 'Quit' action with confirmation dialog added for platforms other than
OS X (Ctrl+Q by default)
- Right-click menu reworked, added 'Copy name(s)' / 'Copy path(s)' actions
- Improved Windows launcher
- Splash screen shows loading progress
- Currently selected file is displayed in a different color (configurable)
when focus is out of the file table or application
- 'Go back' and 'Go forward' toolbar buttons display a list of back/forward
folders when the mouse button is held down
- Left/Right keyboard shortcuts added for 'Go to parent' and 'Open'
(customizable)
- Window number displayed in title if more than one window is opened
- Marking/unmarking stops when mark key is kept pressed and last file
is reached
- Mark key on '..' now selects next file instead of doing nothing
- Shortcuts dialog uses tabs to show shortcut topics
- Bookmark and root folder names can be entered in the location field
to change the current folder
- Location field now allows to correct paths that have failed or have
been cancelled
- 'Local copy' dialog now selects filename without extension just like
'Rename'
- Added 'Open', 'Open natively' and 'Reveal in Desktop' actions to 'File'
menu
- Added 'Copy name(s)' / 'Copy path(s)' actions to 'Mark' menu
- Added 'Recall previous/next window' actions to 'Window' menu
- Folder pane divider can now be double-clicked to restore an equal
split
- Preference tabs now have icons, layout improved a bit
- View and Editor windows now have icons
- New font preview field to 'Appearance' preferences tab
- New ascending / descending icons in sort tabs
- New about screen
- New extensions associated with Zip archives: .war, .wal, .wmz, .xpi,
.ear, .sar, .odt, .ods, .odp, .odf, .odg
- SMB performance improved when changing folders
- Root folders of SMB shares now have a parent (smb://) to more easily
browse workgroups/shares
- SMB resources that are not browsable (printers, IPC...) are not displayed
- SMB library (jCIFS) upgraded to version 1.2.13 which includes many
bug fixes
- Mac OS X: disabled progress bar animation in file transfer progress
dialog which hogged CPU unnecessarily
- Mac OS X: new 'Universal Binary' application stub, muCommander no
longer uses Rosetta to start up
- New muCommander icon (thanks to Stefano Perelli) and splash logo
- Shell management: users can now choose the encoding used by their
shell of choice.
Localization:
- Romanian translation (contributed by Catalin Hritcu)
- Italian translation (contributed by Roberto Angeletti)
Bug fixes:
- Fixed SFTP connections which could not be established to some servers
not supporting the 'password' authentication method
- Windows UNC network paths (those starting with \\) are now properly
handled, fixing startup problems under Windows if the user home is located
on a network share
- Paths to archive entries can now be properly resolved when entered
in the location field
- Paths to SMB folders entered in the location field do not need to
end with '/' anymore
- Improved focus management, fixing some previous focus issues
- Fixed drive popup which doesn't immediately reflect bookmark changes
- Fixed .GZ files not opened when extension is upper-cased
- GZ files inside Tar archives can now be properly opened
- Archive entries properly refreshed when an archive is being browsed
and the archive file has changed
- Fixed archive file staying locked when creation was interrupted because
of an error
- Fixed 'Sort by date'/'Sort by size' not properly sorting files that
have the same date or size, these are now sorted by name
- Preferences XML file now properly indented
- Removed Preferences from 'File' menu under Mac OS X (already present
in the Apple menu)
- Fixed same directory which could be added several times in a row to
history
- Fixed HTTP errors and redirections not handled properly when browsing
a website
- Fixed improper error message when trying to create a file in an HTTP
folder
- Fixed drive button shrinking when browsing a folder with a long path
- Email addresses can now be used as passwords
- Fixed FTP overwrite problem which would cause the destination file
to be renamed to filename.1
- Fixed a bug in menu bar which could prevent some shortcuts from working
properly
- Added missing keyboard shortcut to 'Go to parent' menu item
- Fixed a display bug which could lead to both panes showing a selected
file
- Fixed annoyance with drive popup under Mac OS X which redirected startup
partition to /Volumes/PartitionName instead of /
- Fixed muCommander cancelling Mac OS X shutdown / restart / logout
- Fixed file editor not asking for save when quitting muCommander under
OS X
- Files/folders with extended characters can now properly be executed/revealed
under Mac OS X (was caused by a
bug in the Java 1.5 runtime)
- Fixed folders failing to display when a filename contains a backslash
under a forward slash-separated system (since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed volume space indicator not showing anything in certain local
folders (since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed renamed file loses selection after renaming (since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed marked files not properly retained when changing sort order
(since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed top-level directories which could not be created in sub-directories
(since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed handling of files containing leading or trailing white space
characters (since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed issue with filenames containing a '?' character (since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed 'Edit bookmarks' changes not taken into account under certain
conditions (since beta1)
- Fixed in-table renaming which could stop working under certain conditions
(since 0.8 beta1)
- Fixed total/free space not displayed for some locally mounted volumes(since
0.8 beta1)
- Fixed newly created folders not selected (since 0.8 beta2)
- Fixed user-defined font not properly taken into account (since 0.8
beta2)
- Fixed a repaint bug which could cause the folder pane display to be
corrupted (since 0.8 beta2)
Known issues:
- Hungarian translation is not up-to-date
- Executable permissions are not preserved properly for local files
prior to Java 1.6
- Zip files encoded in a charset other than UTF-8 will not display non-ASCII
filenames properly due to a
limitation of java.util.zip
- Some BZ2 archives can not be properly opened
- SMB support may not work properly on non multi-language JRE
- 'Copy files to clipboard' not working with some applications (files
are not pasted)
- Mac OS X : 'Sort by' keyboard shortcuts in menu show Command modifier
instead of Ctrl, OS X's keyboard navigation shortcuts must be disabled
in 'System Preferences' for them to work properly
- Mac OS X : text fields don't work correctly when using a fractionally-scaled
font (known Java
bug)
- Editable combo boxes have keyboard navigation issues under Java 1.6
WinSCP is an open source SFTP client and FTP client for Windows.
Its main function is the secure file transfer between a local and
a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers basic file manager
functionality. It uses Secure Shell (SSH) and supports, in addition
to Secure FTP, also legacy SCP protocol.
[More]
WinSCP is also available as a plugin to two file managers,
FAR and
Altap Salamander.
Nice collection of screenshots, links and descriptions. Highly recommended.
January 19, 2006 - murban.blogspot.com... ... ...
What's an asymmetric single panel file manager?
Single window file managers, such as Konqueror, usually have two panels,
where the leftmost is a tree-view panel that is connected to a directory
and an opposing file view which usually resides in the right side of
the window. Left tree panel is strictly linked to file panel which shows
the current selected folder. Actions are executed in stages where the
first one is selecting the files, then setting the action and last execution
of the action in another folder. These are three common steps, since
the manager has no default predefined destination. The destination is
set or selected before the execution itself. Setting destination means
browsing to the new destination in current active window while selecting
means executing another instance or activating another tab. This ensures
the source and the destination, but still the two are not linked in
a strict way. There is a good reason for this. The Konqueror is not
only a file manager, but also file browser, a canvas for all the latest
KDE technology, a web browser, a universal viewing application and much
more. Check the
Konqueror's features web page for more information and screenshots.
It integrates wide palette of functions where most of them are click
oriented, like browsing. This links the manager tightly to using a mouse.
Konqueror also supports key bindings, but those are common keys used
in every application, like Ctrl+a, to Select All Files, and similar
keys. Konqueror can use a "split window" feature that gives an twin
panel look, but it lacks it's panel dependent functionality.
What is then a twin panel file manager?
By definition all twin panel file managers, like Krusader, have a main
window that is divided into three sub-windows called "panels". Two of
them are usually identical in structure and are positioned horizontally
or vertically side by side, while a third one sits on the bottom of
the window. The third section is a command line which is expandable
by nature and tries to mimic console functions. The structure of two
side by side panels is linked and its functioning is strongly keyboard
oriented, enabling the ability to perform all functions without a mouse.
Two panels can be restructured to a single view, if one panel acts as
a tree view to the opposite one. This holds the same characteristic
functioning as the single panel file manager. Two panels, if set as
equivalent, are defined as active or source and inactive or destination
panel. Supported tabs allow the user to set many sources and many destinations,
which can also be obligatorily connected. This means that executing
and action from one source results in predefined destination. Krusader
also comes with two pop up panels called third hand panels. Their function
is selective to the panels. It can be a file viewer, searching panel,
calculator of occupied space and more.
The single panel actually has two and the twin panel usually at least
three panels! Is someone putting me on?
The names single and twin denote the number of simultaneously usable
panels. There are file managers that have four or more panels, but still
function as a twin panel, since the pairs of panels are not directly
connected. The main difference between the two types of file manager
is ideology behind operations. It's predicted, that the more complex
the operation gets, the less appropriate it is for a simplistic mouse
action. Since most mouse actions consist of drag and drop, it makes
all actions limited by three main traits; first holding, then doing
something and at last releasing the mouse button. Some single panel
file managers are also introducing mouse gestures, which can drastically
improve the mouse usability, especially of "doing something", but are
still limited in functioning and less appropriate for users with accessibility
problems. Mice with many buttons can drastically improve the speed of
performance, but usually those buttons are not set. Using a mouse can
be very operational in some cases and one big panel is more appropriate
for mouse oriented usages, while on the other hand two panels are more
strictly confined to source - destination operations like managing files.
Since both types of application use similar add-on technologies like
profiles, bookmarks, tabs, file associations and other, the real and
the most important differences remain how fast or in how many steps
an action can be completed, how the actions can be prepared, how much
a big view port is needed and how verbose the operations need to be.
The function shapes the form.
This statement might be taken from Darwin's evolution, but still can
also be useful in describing file managers. For fast operations, preparation
is one big difference between Krusader and the Konqueror. Krusader sorts
and searches for files in every possible way. To make the statement
lighter, I need to add, that if some way was not implemented yet, it's
surely on the to-do list or was never asked for. Functions like
"show only this file type", "feed to virtual folder", "predefined masks",
"profiles", and "search for something in everything" that can be executed
through a single shortcut are really features only needed by a more
demanding audience. After widening the preparation idea to synchronization,
comparing and multi renaming, even though the last two usually call
external apps, this ideology is mind blowing. For example, to compare
two files, one needs to fulfill one of four possibilities: select two
files in one directory, select two in different directories in different
panels, select any two from virtual folder or select one in one panel,
if second file has the same name in other panel. Only the first
one can be done in Konqueror, because its one panel is never aware of
another tab or another window. Every file operation denotes
one of the tree basic actions. First action is an execution of file
as an application or as a document. If an "odt" file is executed, we
don't expect it to do something, but rather expect some other app to
handle this type. In this case this document is handled by OpenOffice.org.
Same goes for "pdf" or "mp3", but using different applications. In case
we deal with executables, then those files usually do not have extensions,
but do some specific tasks. This action is executed with single or double
mouse click or by hitting "enter" on the high-lighted file, in every
type of file manager.
.... The viewing and editing is a very important feature in twin panels.
The built-in editor and viewer are usually bundled with different
enhancements like color-coding of the tags in specific programming languages,
the two support multiple encodings and have the ability to change it
with save command among other. All these can be assigned to
Konqueror, but searching for specialized app is a bit more complicated,
since it is selected through a selection dialog. The real problem starts
when the app is not listed among predefined. But same operations can
also be easily executed in Konqueror using drag and drop. The difference
is, that in this case both windows must be opened. The difference, as
shown, is not in whether the action can be done, but rather how it's
done.
The third aspect is changing the location of files. This change can
be something like copying, moving, uploading, packing or something.
Konqueror needs right click and copy and then right click and paste
after the new destination is selected, or drag and drop if two instances
are opened. In twin panels these are linked from source panel to destination
with a single key combination, F5, F6, alt+P respectively.
For example, packing selected files is really no more that hitting alt+P
and enter, if the default compression utility is "tar.gz". If you prefer
other, you can change the default or simply selecting different tool
among many for the job. Konqueror users usually don't deal much with
packing and, thus is this action handled by some outside all in one
application that can also be called from the right-click menu. The Konqueror's
ideology for operations implies that packing is primarily done to source
directory; while for twin panel it's whatever the destination offers.
I need to mention, that packing and copying can also be performed in
Konqueror using a single action, if you select different output location,
but you need to select one which is by default more than one mouse click
away.
....\ ... ...
What are the real advantages of OFM and Krusader?
There are five major advantages that come with twin panel file managers:
* the first real advantage of OFM's for file management lie in the paradigm,
that one panel is always aware of the other, the opposite one. This
simplifies basic file operations as moving, packing and copying and
also other more specific tasks like comparing directories, synchronizing
them and gathering information about the system.
* secondly it's strongly keyboard oriented. Key bindings are usually
selected in a way to facilitate usage whether the keys are executed
single handedly or with both hands. Keyboard operations are the fastest
way to execute commands.
* third advantage is a built-in viewer and editor with specialized functions
for programming languages and multiple encodings.
* fourth is a strong incorporation of scripting support like User-action
system. This extends the functionality and also simplifies the common
frequently repeating tasks.
* fifth is extremely descriptive and verbose outputs of actions and
system information.
Among Linux OFM's, Krusader
took on an interesting script-based
user actions system, which can set specific user actions to quick
shortcut keys or icons. Krusader Krew promises that the most useful
scripts will make it into the next release. They already support several
external packers and some VFS. Packers are mainly standalone programs
called from command-line, while VFS's are deeply integrated in KDE.
Fifteen year jubilee for Total Commander !!!
Version 7 is a definite improvement over 6.x. Definitly better icons and
icons layout. I noticed that Alt-F1 and Alt-F2 now works as expected in
OFMs. There are many other nice features: if windows focus in not on command
line quick search works by pressing letters without Alt. Regular
expression support is very nice.
Features in
Total Commander 7.0
now include :
- Enhanced
search function
- Tabbed interface,
regular expressions,
history+favorites buttons
- New:
Updated interface+icons, compare editor, cursor in lister, separate
trees, logging, enhanced overwrite dialog etc.
- Compare files (now with editor)
/ synchronize directories
- Quick View panel with bitmap display
- ZIP, ARJ, LZH, RAR, UC2, TAR, GZ,
CAB, ACE archive handling + plugins
- Built-in FTP client with FXP (server
to server) and HTTP proxy support
- Parallel port link, multi-rename
tool
- Thumbnails view, custom columns,
enhanced search
-
And many more!
Servant Salamander is a very popular file manager for Windows. Its classical
two pane design and control are very similar to the widely used DOS
version of Norton Commander but because it supports new Windows technologies
you can easily use it instead of Windows Explorer. The most important
reasons for using it are its simple file and directory operations (using
source and target panes), archive support (zip, arj, rar, ace, tar/gzip,
etc.), fast text, HTML, and picture (over 40 formats - jpg, gif, bmp,
pcx, tga, tiff, etc.) viewers, powerful file searching, changing case
of file names, and character set coding (support for national charsets).
Servant Salamander has the following other editions available:
Servant Salamander Full.
=== User reviews ====
hey, i am a total commander user but i just like to give a few stars
to salamander cause it just a neat piece of software. it feels like
pastell molded soft plastik, wich is a uniqe and comfortable synesthetic
impression that does not come with any other soft :p . also it is extremly
usable. i used to love the laucher/parameter system (better than tcmd),
though the menu could be more customizeable (worse than tcmd). downside
is the plugin system. can't beat tcmd in that.
This application is a mixture between
Norton Commander and
Windows Explorer.
Pablo Commander is a mixture between Norton Commander and Windows Explorer.
Gyula's Navigator is a 32-bit Norton Commander clone for all Windows
platforms. You can see two folders parallel that makes the file operations
much easier. Its keyboard layout is compatible with the famous predecessors.
- Features
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Parallel file operations |
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Integrated local network
handling |
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Archiver support |
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Search (also for text) |
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Multiple language support
( 12 languages currently ) |
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Drag & Drop |
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Context menu |
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Favorites |
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View/Edit/Folder History |
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Clipboard support |
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Customizable look and
feel |
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Configurable Viewer, Editor
associations |
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Built in file viewer (AVI,
BMP, RTF, TXT, JPG, GIF, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF) |
Polish NC cockquote> ="FixedSys">Kulak Commander (KC) is win32 text
mode (console) commander for Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP. KC is a clone of the
well-known Norton Commander by Symantec. It is no 100% exact clone of this
tool. KC adds man new features and special keyboard shortcuts which allow
user to navigate as far as possible.
Necromancer's Dos Navigator is a "Norton Commander" clone. It uses a
well known text-mode interface, is highly customizable, and has a lot
of features. Its key features are a text editor with syntax highlighting,
horizontal/vertical blocks, multiple codepages, undo/redo, bookmarks,
powerful searching, and regex; a file viewer with text view, asm/dump/hex
edit, raw blocks, header viewer, search, regex, and unlimited filesize;
a powerful filepanel with higlighting, VFSs, and filefind with textsearch
and regex; a calculator; and more.
Release focus: Major feature enhancements
Changes: The editor can now handle strings up to 2 GB. There
are several OS-specific bugfixes and improvements, and correct internal
support for .tgz archives.
Java-based muCommander 0.8 beta3 released.
muCommander is a cross-platform file manager that features support
for FTP, SFTP, SMB, HTTP/HTTPS, e-mail attachments, zip/gzip/tar archives,
universal bookmarks, multiple windows, and a customizable UI. It is
available in 11 languages.
Release focus: Major feature enhancements
Changes:
This release adds keyboard shortcuts, toolbar and command bar customization,
predefined themes, custom file openers and associations, drag and drop
and clipboard integration, credentials management, support for ISO,
NRG, AR/Deb, Bzip2, and LST archives, Bonjour/Zeroconf services, file
permissions display and modification, file date modification, command
line options, an improved shell, accessibility options, the ability
to pause/resume a transfer and limit speed, opening files with native
associations under KDE and GNOME, revealing a file on the desktop, and
executing a file located in an archive or on a remote server.
January 20, 2007 (krusader.sourceforge.net) Krusader
an advanced twin panel (commander style) file manager for
KDE and other desktops in the *nix
world, similar to Midnight
or Total Commander. It provides
all the file management features you could possibly want.
Learn more...
Plus: extensive archive handling, mounted filesystem support, FTP,
advanced search module, an internal viewer/editor, directory synchronisation,
file content comparisons, powerful batch renaming and
much much more. It
supports a wide variety of
archive formats and can handle other KIO slaves such as smb
or fish. It is (almost) completely customizable, very user friendly,
fast and looks great on your desktop! You should give it a try.
This piece of software is developed by the
Krusader Krew,
published under the GNU
General Public Licence.
http://krusader.sourceforge.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1862
Copyright © 1996-2009 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov.
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created as a service to the UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP)
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Created May 1, 1998; Last modified:
August 15, 2009
If forklift interests you, I'd suggest checking out XFolders and the Macports version of mc, and see if they scratch your itch.
Posted at 10:19PM on Mar 26th 2007 by Andrew White
===
Posted at 1:06AM on Mar 27th 2007 by Patr