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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] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They are faster and more efficient for most basic file operations.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Id actually say, for super basic stuff the shell commands are faster. And super complicated stuff, shell commands are faster.

But it's that set of things in the middle of the bell curve that are more complicated that moving a single file and less complicated than running a bash script one liner that strings together 8 commands that these terminal browsers really shine.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My favourite one is renaming a directory full of files in nnn. It opens in vim, and I'm in my happy place, where I really know how to edit text (or, in this case, filenames). Great when there's some minor variation between a lot of files. Full previewing before saving, multiple operations handled before doing anything etc.

[–] tatterdemalion 1 points 1 year ago

This is the most compelling use case I've heard so far. I'd love to do a bulk rename by just having all of the file names on separate lines in a helix buffer.