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
As someone who uses nnn (occasionally lf) all the time, terminal file managers make navigation (especially bookmarking) easier.
Think Nemo’s my default file manager but with GUI file managers I find it hard to switch contexts. I always used to have two splits open with Nemo but if I need to open a new context I’d have to open another instance of Nemo and then I gotta switch between the instances now.
Now, nnn gives me 4 contexts, which can be easily switched between using 1-4. I’ve added zoxide within nnn to pretty much jump to any directory within my system. This isn’t really possible with a GUI file manager. Guess you can add integration to other tools as well to the list of pros of a terminal file manager.
File preview needs a mention as well. It’s easier when you can quickly glance a file and move on instead of opening it.
They’re better than
cd something ls cd something-else ls cd ../.. lsIt’s really annoying navigating a filesystem in the shell.
Either you remember exactly where a file is located, have a reference, or you’re going to be doing a lot of “ls, cd, ls, cd”.
Either you remember exactly where a file is located, have a reference, or you’re going to be doing a lot of “ls, cd, ls, cd”.
You do know tools like find and locate are a thing? If anything it is the graphical tools that do not have a lot of flexibility here.
🥱
There’s always someone like you, lol.
Glad I’ve learned to just cut you out and move on.
Have a nice day!
