PCmanFM vs Thunar - which one do you prefer?

[daquirm]

Great functionality!...I'm gonna use that...but still I'll stick with PCmanFM2 because of native SMB/FTP support and automounting of other volumes...

[Kendall]

Just for the sake of reference, what is known as pcmanfm2 is really just the continued development of pcmanfm, but was named differently in Lubuntu to differentiate the 0.5.x builds from the 0.9.x builds. As of now, pcmanfm2 is now simply pcmanfm and the 0.5.x builds have been deprecated.

Mint Fluxbox will continue to use Thunar for the time being. I feel it's a better fit, and I do feel that pcmanfm is limited by the lack of custom actions functionality. Tabbing is less of an issue as Fluxbox supports window level tabbing by default. Thunar isn't as light, but it's a more feature rich solution which adds the necessary functionality for this to be applicable as a Mint release.

[jeffreyC]

Also there is the Thunar shares plugin from Linux Mint Xfce you can use to access Windows file systems

[Kendall]

Also there is the Thunar shares plugin from Linux Mint Xfce you can use to access Windows file systems

I do include the shares plugin in Mint Fluxbox as well.

[jeffreyC]

I did not remember if it did, I have been running Debian lately.

[anderigs]

well, I realise I join here a bit late but I after reading this thread I have now found a use for both.
which is why I love fluxbox. Cos I can take the best tool for the best job never mind how niche it is.

So in my fluxbox main menu I have
[exec] (Home) {Thunar } ....
AND also
[exec] (Network) {pcmanfm network:/// } ...

I think both are good - neither yet perfect - but together almost.

andE

[daquirm]

[quote="Kendall"I do feel that pcmanfm is limited by the lack of custom actions functionality. Tabbing is less of an issue as Fluxbox supports window level tabbing by default. Thunar isn't as light, but it's a more feature rich solution which adds the necessary functionality for this to be applicable as a Mint release.[/quote]

Actually pcmanfm2 does have custom actions, see the dialog window attached, you ca use any command or script to run..

Selection_001.png (32.57 KiB) Viewed 2987 times

The only difference is, that it's done via "open with" dialog...I don't really understand which features are you people talking about. I haven't come across any feature which is pcmanfm2 lacking...Thunar in the opposite doesn't automount NTFS/EXT4 partitions for example, this really suck when you're a newbie...While most of the people do dualboot it's an extra work to do to mount every single partition extra from CLI...

[anderigs]

ok, now been working with both pcmanfm2 and thunar for a couple of weeks (well thunar MUCH longer) and yes I think pcmanfm2 is generally better but there are three things I see missing:
1. dropbox context menu (esp. in Public folder) - I couldn't find a plugin for dropbox although I do have one for Thunar
2. context menu item to add to zip archive
3. CTRL1-2-3 to swap view
I can live without 3 but not the other two...
Cheers
andE

[daquirm]

1. sry it might sound dumm, but what d you mean by dropbox?
2. I got it there automatically it offers me the extract option...but still it can be done via the "open with" and "custom command" as stated earlier

[Kendall]

@daquirm

The custom actions I mentioned have more to do with the fact that in Thunar, you can save custom actions in the right-click menu instead of having to type them in every time.

Also, Dropbox is a file synchronization service that allows you to share files across multiple computers and phones, with anyone in particular, and/or with anyone in the world. The framework supports multiple sharing levels and permissions by default. It's also available on pretty much every reasonably well used platform.

[linuxviolin]

Both are not bad... As I already said, I prefer and use Xfe too but there is at least another one which may be also quite interesting: emelFM2...

But the best File Manager of all is Nautilus... but of course it may be not really, perfectly suitable to Fluxbox.

[AlbertP]

@Linuxviolin: If you want to use Nautilus on Fluxbox, just open software manager from the menu and install it...

What I like in PCmanFM is the easy way to copy the folder's path. It is the only function I'm missing in Nautilus: clicking and the complete path appears like Explorer in Windows Vista does.

[daquirm]

Kendall :
It's possible to make pcmanFM2 remember the custom action for further use. I really don't see any difference between Thunar and pcmanfm in that.

The Dropbox feature sounds really great, but I'd prefer synchronization with my own NAS, so FTP is priority for me and this is what pcman gives you out of the box. I bet that FTP in general is more widely spread for the same purpose than Dropbox...

[DrHu]

I am using LXDE, so PCmanFM is their default filemanager, but I can't vote, since I don't see it as much better than nautilus

I would probably vote Other and leave it blank
--or suggest Gnome-commander or some such 2-pane file manager with more features than the simple filemanagers being provided as the defaults for various distributions..
http://www.nongnu.org/gcmd/

Instead of non-scientific user surveys, maybe some comparisons are more useful..
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/ ... nux-605506

[richyrich]

Thunar . .

@AlbertP , do you mean like this Address Bar in Thunar ?

Thunar file manager.

Screenshot.png (188.64 KiB) Viewed 2699 times

[AlbertP]

Yes I do mean that. By the way, I am not going to use Thunar, I just want it to work in Nautilus.

[linuxviolin]

is the easy way to copy the folder's path. It is the only function I'm missing in Nautilus: clicking and the complete path appears like Explorer in Windows Vista does.

Yes I do mean that. By the way, I am not going to use Thunar, I just want it to work in Nautilus.

What about in GConf: /apps/nautilus/preferences/always_use_location_entry? And/or what about the ctrl+l shortcut (or "go to > location")? You can also, if you want, install Nautilus Elementery. I guess it gives you the possibility to add or not the famous button for changing the address bar as you want, the buttons or "the complete path"...