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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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What's the point of terminal file managers (mc, ranger, nnn, etc)? (self.linux)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by tatterdemalion to c/[email protected]

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Who are these for? People who use the terminal but don't like running shell commands?

OK sorry for throwing shade. If you use one of these, honestly, what features do you use that make it worthwhile?

EDIT: Just to clarify, my point is I would almost always reach for fzf, fd, or rg before trying to manually search through a directory in a file manager.

EDIT2: A few people mentioned selecting files in a TUI. I don't find it any harder to select files using autocomplete. It might even be faster to start typing a name than it is it "scroll" through a list of files.

EDIT3: Here's a neat tool that can add some flexibility to your shell workflow: https://github.com/urbanogilson/lineselect

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Way back when DOSLinux existed the dev provided a Midnight Commander with a fully loaded F2 menu as well as setup associations. Could literally do almost anything and everything from within the file manager. I later moved the configs over to Slackware and pretty much lived in MC to get things done. At some point the MC code reduced the number of entries in the F2 menu so I would have to rebuild it to remove the limitation.

No longer use it like that today but MC is used constantly for file management locally and remotely (mostly to a Kodi box).

Using OFMs (Norton/Volkov/Midnight Commanders and FAR) has always been easier and faster to use than Explorer-style GUI FMs for me.