File Managers like the Windows Explorer

[Evergrowing]

Hey guys

I have been using LM and Nemo a few weeks now and I find it so bad that I consider installing Windows just because of the Explorer.
I looked for alternatives but it seems they all lack something. But since I didnt try them out and dont intend to install 31 programs, please help me with a proper file manager for LM that can do the same things as the explorer:

I need it to:
* open-as- and save-as dialog need to be able to do the same things the explorer could (open other applications from it etc)
* search by date, size, file contents, name
* show proper previews (my Nemo cannot)
* easy to see the current filepath

Any ideas which file manager can do this?

[xenopeek]

With "open-as- and save-as dialog" do you mean the file chooser dialog you get when you open/save a file from some app other than the file manager? That dialog comes from the widget toolkit the app was made with, not from the file manager. It won't look or behave the same as your file manager because it is something else. Most Linux Mint apps are made with GTK3 so they use the GTK3 file chooser dialog. Choice of file manager has no influence on this.

You can search by name and file contents, and as workaround you could sort on the date and size columns (after adding the latter).

What's missing with previews — do you mean missing thumbnail icons or that the previewer (press Spacebar on highlighted file to open) doesn't open? If this is about thumbnails, are no thumbnails shown at all or are they missing only for certain filetypes? Did you maybe not install a thumbnailer for those filetypes?

To always see the current path you can enable that option in Edit > Preferences > Display > "Show the full path in the title bar and tab bars". Only when you are in your top level /home/username directory does it not show the path, everywhere else it does.

As for 31 other available file managers, many of those don't have the feature set that Nemo has but maybe somebody else has a suggestion that meets every of your points.

[lsemmens]

As an ex windows user, I find that there is nothing in the windows world that has not been replaced in Linux. (OK iTunes - but that is Apple proprietary product so not a windows/linux problem) . I still have to access Windows File manager occasionally and find that nemo (Linux) is a far superior product. Like every device, cars, TVs, computers, Operating systems...... the first question should be, "Is this system capable of performing said function?" IF the answer is, "YES", then the next question should be, "How can I make it do so?" Obviously, you have determined that it should be a able to perform said function, your next task is to determine HOW to perform that function. TO address your concerns.
Open As - try Open With
Save As - works the same - what app are you using?
Search function - Your sort function and Search function should cover all of that
Show proper previews - the view menu "show thumbnails" might be what you are looking for.
The file path can show the full path as per windows if you so desire,

The thing that File manager cannot do that I find annoying is tabbed browsing.

As xenopeek has suggested, there are multiple file managers in Linux that you can install and try AT NO COST to you!

[Evergrowing]

With "open-as- and save-as dialog" do you mean the file chooser dialog you get when you open/save a file from some app other than the file manager? That dialog comes from the widget toolkit the app was made with, not from the file manager. It won't look or behave the same as your file manager because it is something else. Most Linux Mint apps are made with GTK3 so they use the GTK3 file chooser dialog. Choice of file manager has no influence on this.

Yeah, please check what the Explorer does. What I mean are things like: I'm on some website and click "upload picture" and then this select-dialog opens up. Or I open GIMP and click "Export as". These menus SUCK! How can I improve this if not by another file manager?

You can search by name and file contents, and as workaround you could sort on the date and size columns (after adding the latter).

I know, but it is a workaround and I am baffled this super-basic function is not implemented

What's missing with previews — do you mean missing thumbnail icons or that the previewer (press Spacebar on highlighted file to open) doesn't open? If this is about thumbnails, are no thumbnails shown at all or are they missing only for certain filetypes? Did you maybe not install a thumbnailer for those filetypes?

Please see this thread

To always see the current path you can enable that option in Edit > Preferences > Display > "Show the full path in the title bar and tab bars". Only when you are in your top level /home/username directory does it not show the path, everywhere else it does.

Ok, thx, that helped

As an ex windows user, I find that there is nothing in the windows world that has not been replaced in Linux.

That's nice, tell me about specifically the things I mentioned, see above

[xenopeek]

Yeah, please check what the Explorer does. What I mean are things like: I'm on some website and click "upload picture" and then this select-dialog opens up. Or I open GIMP and click "Export as". These menus SUCK! How can I improve this if not by another file manager?

How would I check what Explorer does? I like most users here don't use Windows.

Anyway, the file manager has no part in this. If you want a better file chooser dialog you'll have to choose apps that are using a widget toolkit that offers a file chooser dialog with the features you want. For example apps that are using GTK4, and your system has GTK4 version 4.10 or newer, have a grid view option in the file chooser dialog with large thumbnails. Linux Mint 21.x don't have GTK4 4.10 yet so this is a dead end until Linux Mint 22 next year but maybe with GTK4 using apps that you install from Flathub that are using the GNOME 44 runtime (so it has GTK4 > 4.10) it will work.

For example you could try https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.Epiphany for a web browser that uses GTK4. That flatpak uses the GNOME 44 runtime so has the right GTK4 version, just switch its file chooser dialog to grid view (button in the top right of the dialog).

GIMP uses GTK2. They are in the process of migrating to GTK3, so you won't have a grid view option there for a long while. Web browsers like Firefox use GTK3 so also don't have a grid view option yet.

Please see this thread

Did you check the settings in Edit > Preferences > Previews? There is a file size limit for what files previews are generated for, and also for location. Local Files Only is the default and I don't know if that maybe excludes dynamically mounted devices like your camera storage.

[spamegg]

If I can give a piece of advice to Evergrowing: many people here hate that GTK file chooser dialog. I see occasional posts complaining about it specifically. I think I've seen at least 15-20 posts over 2 years. It's an unfortunate thing about the Linux world that we are stuck with. See here: viewtopic.php?t=382106 Most of the Linux world uses GTK-based stuff, and GNOME devs tend to be stubborn and their GUI design goes in a direction very different than Windows / Mac, which we folks coming from Windows might find unintuitive (there are also arguments in favor of that design, see here for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkxAp2Gh7-E). Forking and changing such fundamental toolkits are very difficult for distro developers. So I don't expect things to change any time soon.

In the meantime we Linux users just live with it, get used to it, or start thinking differently (my life got much better once I made a habit of using Ctrl+L, Esc and other keyboard shortcuts all the time), or find alternative programs, or in the rare case get involved in the development of software (for example I volunteered in the Mint 21 BETA bug squash a year ago and found 13-14 small GUI bugs in Cinnamon, and made my contribution). That's the trade-off with free software; it costs nothing but some things are lacking and you have to roll up your sleeves and do things. Generally you'll be much better and happier if you do not expect Windows GUI features on Linux (I know, even when they are very basic functionality that we take for granted). Open source is severely lacking in funds and manpower compared to corporations. I know that's probably not the answer you want but that's how it is. It requires a different spirit / attitude / expectation.

[Evergrowing]

well, it does help, because now I know where these limitations come from and that basically there is no way of getting what I am used to from the Explorer
I have to think about it and see how much it really annoys me. But honestly, I am considering switching back to Windows because of this. Moreover, many games don't run on Linux and I was hoping that Wine was working slightly better than it does for me.

As for the preview questions: it's super random. Some videos (same format as the other ones) are being shown with a preview (yes, the option is of course enabled), and others are not. It changes depending on the day. This is completely broken. And about copying stuff: when I copy from my digital camera, the progress bar doesnt work, which is also something I would not have expected from an OS that is on the market for years and decades :/

[Hoser Rob]

Linux isn't WIndows, itr's in fact quite different, and trying to get software that duplicates what a given WIndows program does is a dead end.

[lsemmens]

With "open-as- and save-as dialog" do you mean the file chooser dialog you get when you open/save a file from some app other than the file manager? That dialog comes from the widget toolkit the app was made with, not from the file manager. It won't look or behave the same as your file manager because it is something else. Most Linux Mint apps are made with GTK3 so they use the GTK3 file chooser dialog. Choice of file manager has no influence on this.

Yeah, please check what the Explorer does. What I mean are things like: I'm on some website and click "upload picture" and then this select-dialog opens up. Or I open GIMP and click "Export as". These menus SUCK! How can I improve this if not by another file manager?

Gimp is NOT a file manager. Gimp in windows behaves exactly the same way.

You can search by name and file contents, and as workaround you could sort on the date and size columns (after adding the latter).

I know, but it is a workaround and I am baffled this super-basic function is not implemented

Search works better than windows allowing recursive search and so forth I have less problems than with windows. Date and time stamps can be displayed if needed, but most people just sort by file name, and/or extension

What's missing with previews — do you mean missing thumbnail icons or that the previewer (press Spacebar on highlighted file to open) doesn't open? If this is about thumbnails, are no thumbnails shown at all or are they missing only for certain filetypes? Did you maybe not install a thumbnailer for those filetypes?

Please see this thread

There are some minor issues with the thumbnail cache that I have noticed, but they do not apply to generic users of Linux, Only if you stuff around with settings and/or move home to another partition/drive

To always see the current path you can enable that option in Edit > Preferences > Display > "Show the full path in the title bar and tab bars". Only when you are in your top level /home/username directory does it not show the path, everywhere else it does.

Ok, thx, that helped

As an ex windows user, I find that there is nothing in the windows world that has not been replaced in Linux.

That's nice, tell me about specifically the things I mentioned, see above

As above. It seem like you may be happier using Windows, that is fine by me.
Just remember, as with anything new cars/TVs/Computers/Operating Systems. They all perform a function, just as different cars all get you from point a to point b, they don't all do it in the same way. e.g. to turn the lights on, some cars have a switch on the dash, some on the steering column, some are automatic. Then switching from high beam to low beam, or the radio, you a) need to know it is capable of performing a task then asking the right questions. The same is true of any Operating System, A person who is comfortable in the Apple system will find Windows a real pain, and vice versa. Linux is no different. Some people swear by Ford, others GMH, but are good but different.

[Evergrowing]

wow, that was completely not helpfui.
What? GIMP is NOT a filemanager?? I didnt notice it the last 10 years I was using it (also under Windows). I did notice though that the Export-As-Dialog gives me all the options the Explorer context-menu does.

Yeah, these minor issues with the previews... like not seeing any at all or just randomly seeing them. Minor issue if you produce videos. Hardly worth mentioning.

Why are you defending Linux/Nemo? Can't you just accept that it has these weaknesses? btw I don't intend to start a discussion about this here so please don't expect an answer from me.

[PaulL]

[snip]
What's missing with previews — do you mean missing thumbnail icons or that the previewer (press Spacebar on highlighted file to open) doesn't open? If this is about thumbnails, are no thumbnails shown at all or are they missing only for certain filetypes? Did you maybe not install a thumbnailer for those filetypes?
[snip]

I saw the way to enable/disable thumbnails on the menu, but that bit about getting a preview by highlighting the file and pressing the spacebar is nowhere in the menus, preferences, or keyboard shortcuts. Where did you learn that? I'd be interested in checking out your source, to learn more about what I can do with nemo. I tried clicking on Help/pressing F1, and it opens a browser tab to https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php, but I can't find anything on that page about nemo. Yelp doesn't show anything about nemo, either. So if you could please post your source, I'd be very grateful.

[SMG]

As for the preview questions: it's super random. Some videos (same format as the other ones) are being shown with a preview (yes, the option is of course enabled), and others are not. It changes depending on the day.

Have you checked the file size? If you check the options in Nemo, the setting for preview is based on size.

[motoryzen]

The thing that File manager cannot do that I find annoying is tabbed browsing

If by File manager in your comment you're talking about Nemo..yes it can. Hold ctrl+t and you'll create a new tab of that same directory you're currently in..inside Nemo. I'm unsure of other file managers at the moment.

[Z_L]

I have a similar problem, and not sure if it is worth starting a new thread for it. If there is a simple answer, we could sort it out here.

I have thousands of files recovered from a lost partition, and all the file names are numbers, completely meaningless. I am trying to find what I need or can recognize, and it would help a lot if I could sort the files by multiple criteria at the same time. Like first sort them by type, then by size, and as third criteria by date. Even two simultaneous criteria would help a lot.

Unfortunately, if I manually sort by type first, then sort by size, then the sorting order achieved by type is lost, mixed up by Nemo. Is there a file manager with graphical user interface I could use for LM Cinnamon that could do this?

[SMG]

I have a similar problem, and not sure if it is worth starting a new thread for it.

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