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13 Best File Managers for Linux Systems


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13 Best File Managers for Linux Systems

 

Best-Linux-File-Managers.png

 

File management is so important on a computer that users always want to have a simple and easy to use file manager or file browser. But sometimes having a feature rich and highly configurable file manager for performing both simple tasks such as searching, copying, moving, creating and deleting files, and complex operations such as remote access of files and SHH connections is very vital.

 

Whether you prefer a lightweight file manager with less features or a heavy file manager with multiple features and functionalities, it all depends on how you operate your system.

 

Below are a list of some of the best file managers and browsers that you can find on different Linux distributions and can be installed using default system package management tool called apt, yum or dnf....

 

http://www.tecmint.c...-file-managers/

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Nice article SB! While I strive for a lightweight desktop, it is only so I can reallocate those CPU cycles to the most feature-rich and versatile applications. And the file manager is at the hub of my workflow. So while I'm always looking for a way to "lighten the load" of a desktop OS GUI, I always have preferred the most feature-rich file manager I can find, tweaking it up as much as practical.

 

I have tried most of these file managers at one point (Marlin is conspicuously absent from the list, but it'sa fork of the Nautilus/Files/Nemo/Caja tree) and found them all to be lacking something. Fortunately, Linux allows us to tweak things! Admittedly, I haven't tried many of these in the past couple years, so maybe my opinions are dated and no longer supported. I always liked the KDE-based file managers...very flexible, functional, and extremely tweakable...but they pull in KDE libraries. I'm not opposed to KDE libs (in fact, I have often installed Okular and K3B in place of Gnome counterparts), but I've always felt that the file manager is the center piece of your OS, and if you're using a KDE-based file manager, you might as well be using a KDE-based operating system. KDE is just too darn tweakable for me. I like choices and tweaks, but KDE has options for their options. Besides, I cut my Linux teeth on Gnome, so that's where the majority of my tastes are.

 

Nautilus was an excellent file manager until the Gnome team started removing features to improve design aesthetics. I could probably live with that if they had left me the OPTION to restore the features I wanted. But they didnt, which spawned Nemo, Marlin, and Caja. Nemo, Marlin & Caja restored some of the features I wanted, but they also became "integrated" to their desktop environments, much like KDE-based file managers. Of those 3, I prefer Caja. In fact, if I could install Caja without pulling in so many Mate meta-packages, I'd probably be using Caja. It checks off all my criteria boxes, except for the Mate dependencies.

 

I've also tried Thunar in XFCE distros and PCManFM in LXDE distros. Both are lightweight and responsive, but seem quite spartan in their utility. However, Thunar allows for customizable "actions" and PCManFM recently added tthis feature in the last year or 2. In all fairness to Thunar, I haven't explored it as much as PCManFM, so maybe it would've been sufficient for my needs. But if 2 softwares are nearly identical feature-wise, but one has a lighter footprint, I'm going with that one. So I landed on PCManFM. SpaceFM is a fork of PCManFM with custom actions, but it just didn't suit my needs. But then I found a "customized actions" package with several bash scripts for various custom actions:

 

https://madebits.github.io/#r/linux-pcmanfm-actions.md

 

This package puts PCManFM nearly on par with old Nautilus for me! The only actions missing were "Compress-PDF" (an old Zenity script that I still use EVERY day!) and "nautilus share" to create a shared file/directory over Samba. I was able to modify the Compress-PDF script to remove the Nautilus-specific verbage, making it usable in PCManFM (and presumably other FMs also?!) and added it to the Custom Actions folder. Simply right-click and "TA-DA"...there it is, just like I'm used to! I haven't been able to replicate the "nautilus-share" SMB function, but Gigolo or Samba-GUI provide the same function...more clicks and more steps, but this isn't a repetitive task, it's a "once & done" kind of thing. So I can live with that. In the meantime, I'll just keep my eyes peeled for someone smarter than me who has figured out a short script that can be executed as custom action in PCManFM.

 

The MadeBits scripts above were a game-changer for me that not only made PCManFM a functional alternative, but the CLEAR alternative. Posting the link in case anyone else is as interested as I was. Enjoy!

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When I use a graphical file manager, pcmanfm has been my go to for many years. Of course, I only do normal file management with it though as I use the terminal to compress files and other advanced functions.

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No doubt, many preferences are formed from "how you learned" to originally do something. I suspect you learned on the terminal, and added GUI to the repertoire in instances where it made sense, or made life easier. I am a child of MS Windows (can't change history!) and learned from the GUI, adding terminal-fu to the repertoire where it makes life easier.

 

Personally, I find it easier and faster to click a file in a FM, copy and paste to destination; than to type 'cp /path/of/source/file /path/of/destination/file' in a terminal. On the other hand, it is much quicker and easier to type 'sudo apt-get update' and 'sudo apt-get upgrade' in terminal than to use the software-updater GUI. But there's a whole lot of "in-between" that is entirely influenced by personal preferences. Which is why I LOVE linux!

 

Since the file manager is the hub of my workflows, I prefer a FM on steroids, so to speak...and I'm digging PCManFM now! Quite happy with it! I haven't been truly happy with a FM since Gnome started messing with Nautilus. IMO, you don't "improve" something my removing choices. Hide them, if you must, but don't remove them. If Caja ever becomes modular and can be installed in a stand-alone manner, I would be tempted. But it would take quite a lot to "pry" me away from PCManFM now! Those custom actions were the difference maker...most of the same functions as Caja, but in a lighter footprint.

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securitybreach

No doubt, many preferences are formed from "how you learned" to originally do something. I suspect you learned on the terminal, and added GUI to the repertoire in instances where it made sense, or made life easier. I am a child of MS Windows (can't change history!) and learned from the GUI, adding terminal-fu to the repertoire where it makes life easier.

 

Actually not really. I started on Dos and then Windows like most folks. Although later on when I moved to Linux, I found that it was much faster and more efficient to run the commands versus opening up a graphical application and clicking around.

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No doubt, many preferences are formed from "how you learned" to originally do something. I suspect you learned on the terminal, and added GUI to the repertoire in instances where it made sense, or made life easier. I am a child of MS Windows (can't change history!) and learned from the GUI, adding terminal-fu to the repertoire where it makes life easier.

 

Actually not really. I started on Dos and then Windows like most folks. Although later on when I moved to Linux, I found that it was much faster and more efficient to run the commands versus opening up a graphical application and clicking around.

 

Well I consider DOS to be terminal for Windows, so I think maybe that still counts? LOL!

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securitybreach

Well I consider DOS to be terminal for Windows, so I think maybe that still counts? LOL!

 

I am referring to before there was a graphical windows OS

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Well I consider DOS to be terminal for Windows, so I think maybe that still counts? LOL!

 

I am referring to before there was a graphical windows OS

 

EXACTLY!

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  • 10 months later...

I wrote about Double Commander in another thread (http://forums.scotsn...showtopic=93415). Then I started looking at other so-called "Orthodox File Managers", which kinda led me back to Midnight Commander. So I read (and re-read) Midnight Commander's documentation -- man mc and Midnight Commander's Help document -- and now mc is the only file manager I'm using. Well, that and #13 from the list in the article ("Command Line File Manager"). B)

 

I used mainly KDE when I first got going with Linux, and I mostly used Konqueror, from the old KDE 3. Since then, I've spent time with a lot of different Linux file managers -- most of the 13 on that list, plus several others. Kinda funny that after all that, now I've "regressed" back to the dark ages, doing all of my file management with Midnight Commander and the command line! But that's where I'm at.

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