Anyone use Nautilus instead of Thunar with Xfce?

[NicoleCtrl]

Is this a good idea or not? Any downsides? How would I go about doing it so that everything is integrated with Nautilus instead of Thunar?
If Xfce really needs Thunar for full functionality I'll just keep it, but Nautilus doesn't seem to be such a resource hog and I think it looks nicer.

[jjaythomas]

Your call
I'm happy with Thunar and shy away from nautilus...
Read threads (Xfce forums) nautilus likes to take over desktop/display, so want to use make sure to configure to 'NOT' manage desktop so you can tell Xfce to use as default file manager.

Getting rid of Thunar right now (Xfce <=4. not all to hard it's very modular (Xfce), but the new 4.10 (coming soon to LMDE) will need for many more desktop functions (and what I read is going to take more functions of 'xfdesktop over in future and xfdesktop will eventually disappear ). So I wouldn't get rid of totally.

What functions of nautilus do you prefer over thunar?

J.Jay

Edit .8 (eight) still showing as smiley

[notty]

What functions of nautilus do you prefer over thunar?

J.Jay

Tabs first and foremost. Dual panes, sushi previews or preferably Gloobus Preview. These are things I would hate to live without.


Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

[NicoleCtrl]

What functions of nautilus do you prefer over thunar?

Tabs, it seems to work better with Conky (can't get Conky transparent background using Thunar), I prefer its default visual look, automatic image thumbnails, dropbox integration.

I'm not getting how to choose Nautilus over Thunar in LMDE. In Settings->Preferred Applications I can choose Nautilus as my file manager, but whenever I restart LMDE it still launches Thunar, and in Nautilus I can't change my desktop background (right click -> Change Desktop Background doesn't do anything).

[jjaythomas]

True: Thunar doesn't do tabs, but can from menu open second window (or more) 2 windows not tabs but doesn't use resources of 2 windows open either) I like it for drag/drop operations.
Sushi and globus are 'file manager' neutral, but I don't think implemented outside gnome yet. Their are some (not nearly as good) file previewers available (Xubuntu uses a couple).
Drop-box integration is available ( the howto is pined near top at Xfce forums) with instructions from Mint-Xfce former maintainer (I think still works on current thunar.
Edit Sorry Drop box must not be working on current Xfce (link pinned in forum gone now)

I'm not getting how to choose Nautilus over Thunar in LMDE. In Settings->Preferred Applications I can choose Nautilus as my file manager, but whenever I restart LMDE it still launches Thunar,

Must kill Thunar and resave the session setting>startup and session

I can choose Nautilus as my file manager, but whenever I restart LMDE it still launches Thunar

To keep nautilus from trying to overwrite xfdesktop theirs a setting in Gconf under nautilus (never used personally).

and in Nautilus I can't change my desktop background (right click -> Change Desktop Background doesn't do anything).

unless also change/use metacity it doesn't work (unless make a custom action for/in nautilus. Xfce uses xfwm4 & xfdesktop (for now) to manage desktop including background/wallpapers.

J.Jay

[widget]

I actually have a fairly hybred system with Xfce when I started using it. Used Nautilus for one thing.

I think you should keep Thunar and use it occasionally and learn to use it. Read the Thunar docs from Xfce particularly;
http://thunar.xfce.org/pwiki/documentat ... om_actions

There are a lot of file managers and file browsers out there. The reason is that different folks like different things. If Nautilus is what blows your skirt up then you should use it.

The only thing that could really be a problem is that of space on the Hdd. Nautilus pulls in a lot of depends.

I would not recommend using Nautilus to control the desktop as it does reduce the functionality of Xfce a good bit.

[sobrus]

Desktop functionality (xfdestop) of Xfce is a bit limited. Even on 4.10.
It has very limited file management, because they would need to duplicate thunar functionality in xfdesktop.
There are plans to integrate xfdestop into thumar - just like it is done in nautilus - but I am not sure if it'll be ready for 4.12. It was already announced for 4.10 some long time ago.

So it depends on what functionality you actually need - replacing it with nautilus may not be a bad idea at all.
You will also get rid of tumblerd which is not as good as nautilus thumbnailing at all - less files supported, can be a memory hog and causes problems with removable drives.
You will also get nice speed meter during copy operations (I really missed it).

Nautilus or Caja can thus replace 3 xfce processes - xfdestop, thunar and tumblerd - and consume way less memory while providing better functionality.

[widget]

Desktop functionality (xfdestop) of Xfce is a bit limited. Even on 4.10.
It has very limited file management, because they would need to duplicate thunar functionality in xfdesktop.
There are plans to integrate xfdestop into thumar - just like it is done in nautilus - but I am not sure if it'll be ready for 4.12. It was already announced for 4.10 some long time ago.

So it depends on what functionality you actually need - replacing it with nautilus may not be a bad idea at all.
You will also get rid of tumblerd which is not as good as nautilus thumbnailing at all - less files supported, can be a memory hog and causes problems with removable drives.
You will also get nice speed meter during copy operations (I really missed it).

Nautilus or Caja can thus replace 3 xfce processes - xfdestop, thunar and tumblerd - and consume way less memory while providing better functionality.

Can't say my experience agrees with this but it illustrates my point that different folks like different things very well.

The only way to find out what you like is to try it.

Linux lets you have that choice. That is the whole point. It is your box. You can control what is on it.

One reason I have several installs is that I lke to experiment and like to have my production OS actually work. I am perfectly capable of improving an install to the point that it breaks.

[NicoleCtrl]

Interesting. Thanks for all the feedback. I read it all but it's kind of a moot point at the moment, because I'm experimenting with Cinnamon 1.6 and Nemo now. I have a feeling I'll rely on what I learned here at some future point, though, because I do have a weak spot for Xfce. It seems to be what makes my netbook the happiest lol.

[jjaythomas]

It seems to be what makes my netbook the happiest

Have you tried LXDE types (WattOS worked great on my TC1100 tablet(ancient) and a friends netbook I helped install on)
File manager 'pcmanfm'

J.Jay

[caerolle]

J.Jay,

I like PCManFM a lot! I have an ArchBang install right now that uses it. I tried Bohdi, and apparently they used to use PCManFM, but replaced it with whatever they use now (can't remember the name, but I hated it), and I don't understand why, it's great.

General comments:

Someday I hope to find out what 'desktop management by the file manager' is...I read that on the Xfce site, and don't understand it, and haven't made any progress toward understanding it, really. ~

I do love Xfce. I am currently running it with Mint13 as my stable install, and have Manjaro as something to play with. I just installed ArchBang, so currently using Openbox (which I like a lot too!), may add Xfce to that. I'd like to eventually have as pure an Xfce install as possible running somewhere, thought I have a hard time living without Banshee and VLC player.

caerolle