Sunflower Filemanager

[nomko]

Hi,

Does anyone here running this application: http://code.google.com/p/sunflower-fm/.
I'm testing it under Mint 14MATE running in VB and i must say, at first sight it looks pretty ok. Anyone here who uses this application and can share their experience with it here?
Many thanks!

[raymerjacque]

I run it and am loving it.

I was seeking a filemanager with a better copy handler than the simple default mint copy manager, first i found Double Commander ( which is a clone of famous Total commander for windows ), but i had some bugs in double commander where file copying over network drives would randomly just hang, and then i found Sunflower and its been a real pleasure to use.

Just a heads up, mapping network drives in sunflower can be a little tricky, you have to first mount the drive as well as the folders on the network drive ( mount it inside sunflower settings menu ) before you can use them. that is the only hiccups ive had with it, other than that i highly recommend it, specially for copying alot of files or large files.

installation for Mint is pretty simple, in terminal type :

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/sunflower
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sunflower

( cant remember which site i found it on, but the above commands work with mint. )

I would also recommend you try Double Commander, which is essentially almost identical, but with alot more features, including a much easier route to handling network drives ( has an older outdated look tho ) and decide which you like better.

installation for Double Commander for mint. ( there is 2 types, GTK and QT ) for QT type in terminal :

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexx2000/doublecmd
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install doublecmd-qt

For GTK version of Double commander type :

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexx2000/doublecmd
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk

Far as i know the QT version was the recommended one, i have not tried the GTK version. Could be i should have installed GTK instead of QT and that caused bugs... so maybe try GTK ?

[catweazel]

Could be i should have installed GTK instead of QT and that caused bugs...

Highly unlikely. Qt and GTK are merely widget libraries.

[raymerjacque]

ah ok.

But last i tried Double Commander i was also messing around with linux ALOT and had alot of stability issues, so might not have been double commander at all that was at fault, i have installed mint a dozen times since then and everything is running fine now. So best for op to try both, he may end up liking DB better, it certainly has alot more features and shortcuts.

[MeanEYE]

I am using it, but that's kind of expected since I am developing it.

First let me thank you for giving Sunflower a chance. It's a small file manager and by no means on par with Double Commander, Krusader and other programs that are out there for quite some time now. I try to release weekly so that development process is as seamless and as fast as possible. This fast release cycle is good but it also means sometimes repository managers don't update as often. That's the case with Atareao repository. It's usually version or two behind. If you don't mind being week or two behind development, using repository is okay. We do provide packages for a decent number of distributions out there, so you can always get up to date by manually installing package.

Since Sunflower still doesn't have a decent documentation, if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. Needless to say, bug reports, feature requests and suggestions are more than welcome.

Just a heads up, mapping network drives in sunflower can be a little tricky, you have to first mount the drive as well as the folders on the network drive ( mount it inside sunflower settings menu ) before you can use them. that is the only hiccups ive had with it, other than that i highly recommend it, specially for copying alot of files or large files.

This has been noted and will probably be fixed for next version, which I plan in a week.

[raymerjacque]

well i just want to say thnx for a great app

Sunflower has saved my life many times in the last few months ive been using linux

the network mapping isnt such an issue now that i have figured out how it works, for newbies it can be quite an issue tho. But its a great app, i use it for all my file copy needs specialy since my main 2TB floater drive is on a network PC

looking forward to next release.

( o btw, maybe do like double commander did with network mounts ? they added a button on top "//" and when that is clicked it allows user to browse network... something similar would be usefull )

[raymerjacque]

Wow, just installed new version and i can see a huge improvement already, great work

[MeanEYE]

well i just want to say thnx for a great app

You are welcome. It's a pleasure.

( o btw, maybe do like double commander did with network mounts ? they added a button on top "//" and when that is clicked it allows user to browse network... something similar would be usefull )

Well, Sunflower does have a handler for network:// but that code is still being worked on. Also, you can create shortcuts using toolbar, and add that button. It's kind of retarded from my side, since you have to enable toolbar extensions plugin first, and then add toolbar controls. But you can do it if you wish.

Sunflower has a lot of features which are kind of hidden. Bad design on my side, but I wanted to create something like a "wizard" for first time users which will help folks set up everything they like. I like to keep things slick and clean. As you can notice I don't like making compromises when it comes to how program looks and feels.

Wow, just installed new version and i can see a huge improvement already, great work

Yup. What couple of weeks of development can do to a software.
There's a convenient option in Help menu called Check for new version which, yes, checks for new version. That way you can see what's the latest and what's the version you are currently running.

[nomko]

Looking at all these posts... thanks folks!!!

I'll give Sunflower a try... and don't worry about not having some proper documentation. I'll figure out how it works and maybe i put something together and post it on my website.

[MeanEYE]

Looking at all these posts... thanks folks!!!

I'll give Sunflower a try... and don't worry about not having some proper documentation. I'll figure out how it works and maybe i put something together and post it on my website.

Sounds good. Thanks.