MX Linux Forum

The reason I am asking: XFE is a light weight, fast, desktop independent file manager for X; developed using C++; It has the bones of a good file manager, but is lacking some serious features
The developer is not interested in working on it any further (see open ticket)
https://sourceforge.net/p/xfe/feature-requests/254/
see last response by the developer
It is licensed GNU General Public License version 2.0 and is open source; and hosted on sourceforge
https://sourceforge.net/projects/xfe/
I am not a C++ programmer, but hoping to find someone who would be interested in having a look at it, and perhaps help develop it to its full potential
Thanks

Aren't there enough file managers already?

My understanding is that Thunar works without Xfce4, although it probably has some Xfce4 dependencies. I use it on Gnome, and it works fine. You could certainly make a file manager lighter than Thunar, but I wonder what features you'd have to give up? What makes XFE interesting in particular?

BR, Lars.

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 10:38 am Aren't there enough file managers already? .

There are dozens of file managers, each with its own merits, but also, each leaves me with the question; if only it could do...
For me (and I believe for many users) the file manager and the internet browser are the most commonly used apps in every day life.
I tried many FMs to find a perfect fit for me, but always there is the nag "if only it could..."
I tried XFE, and I liked many of its features, but it's incomplete, the developer had it since 2002, and in 22 years he had many requests for the missing features, yet he did nothing, and when I opened a ticket, he ended up by saying he is not going to do anything (you can read the thread from the link)
So, that brings me to my original question and what I am hoping for; I am hoping to find someone who can share my vision of building a Best In Class file manager for Linux, using what I believe to be an existing solid foundation
I am not a programmer, but I am a good project manager, and I hope I can find someone to partner with me on this project.
Hope this clarifies things
Cheers

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 10:38 am Aren't there enough file managers already?

My understanding is that Thunar works without Xfce4, although it probably has some Xfce4 dependencies. I use it on Gnome, and it works fine. You could certainly make a file manager lighter than Thunar, but I wonder what features you'd have to give up? What makes XFE interesting in particular?

BR, Lars.

Indeed, I use Thunar with Enlightenment and it is quite self-contained and basically pulls in itself and it's volume management features. This is/was a very wise move by it's developers. On the little-known minimal front is zzzFM which is like SpaceFM on steroids, it is pretty popular with antiX folks and is very light and extensible. If it did network shares more easily I would probably only use it but Thunar is both light and does network and mtp sharing effortlessly.

I believe zzzFM is in the MX Repos if you've never tried it... I think your expectations for XFE are going to remain unfulfilled..

AVLinux wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 11:44 am
I believe zzzFM is in the MX Repos if you've never tried it... I think your expectations for XFE are going to remain unfulfilled..

zzzFM is not in the repo anymore
I searched for it and found older version here
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... n/z/zzzfm/
There is a bunch of files there, don't know which on to use
Back to your comments, I understand from what you said that zzzFM suffers from problems with network shares, which is the major problem with XFE
As for my expectations, I know It's wishful thinking, but I'll keep the fingers crossed
Cheers

hasmak wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 12:34 pm

AVLinux wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 11:44 am
I believe zzzFM is in the MX Repos if you've never tried it... I think your expectations for XFE are going to remain unfulfilled..

zzzFM is not in the repo anymore
I searched for it and found older version here
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... n/z/zzzfm/
There is a bunch of files there, don't know which on to use
Back to your comments, I understand from what you said that zzzFM suffers from problems with network shares, which is the major problem with XFE
As for my expectations, I know It's wishful thinking, but I'll keep the fingers crossed
Cheers

To be honest zzzFM allows you to script a lot of things and I think probably network shares are possible but I never went that far. It also has great built in docs. If you wanted to try it from that archive you would want (assuming you use 64bit):

https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... _amd64.deb
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... _amd64.deb
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... +1_all.deb

Maybe a post in the antiX forums would answer that question more definitively..

I used XFE for some time in the past before I switched to Double Commander. In my opinion its biggest strength is that it's very fast and responsive unlike any other GUI file manager. It lacks a bit in features, though, and yes it seems like the developer abandoned it some time ago. I would be great if someone picked it up and would make it new and shiny again. At the same time it's based on X and I don't know how well it would fit into the Wayland ecosystem (XWayland maybe?).

I used to use Xfe a lot, I particularly liked how easy it was to make it look like the old Windows theme because of its use of the Fox toolkit, but now a days I just use whatever comes with the desktop environment. It may have a place with the likes of IceWM which I don't believe comes with its own file manager though.

But, multiple remarks like this (in the ticket) are not helpful:

"This request has bee opened by other users since 2021, no action was taken"
"Several similar requests have been asked since 2004 ???"
"What baffles me is the fact that these requests have been repeated since 2004, yet you have not tried to do anything about it, only the same response about fstab"

I haven't seen the previous requests (and can't be bothered searching) but presumably the dev responded to them. You are not his boss, it is his own personal project and he works on it in his spare time.

You also haven't mentioned here what constitutes a "Best in Class" file manager, what features, etc. Requirements? When I used Xfe about 10 years ago, I thought it was OK as a file manager. Could have used some ability to mount drives but wasn't a deal breaker for me at the time.

I write programs too in my free time, if somebody would pester me with this kind of attitude I would respond "Sure, how much are you willing to pay me for this feature?"

AVLinux wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 1:38 pm
To be honest zzzFM allows you to script a lot of things and I think probably network shares are possible but I never went that far. It also has great built in docs. If you wanted to try it from that archive you would want (assuming you use 64bit):

https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... _amd64.deb
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... _amd64.deb
https://mxlinux.ipacct.com/MX-Packages/ ... +1_all.deb

Maybe a post in the antiX forums would answer that question more definitively..

It also depends on mx-pkexec_21.03.02_all.deb
I installed it, and to be honest, was not impressed at all

AK-47 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 3:01 pm
You also haven't mentioned here what constitutes a "Best in Class" file manager, what features, etc. Requirements? When I used Xfe about 10 years ago, I thought it was OK as a file manager. Could have used some ability to mount drives but wasn't a deal breaker for me at the time.

The class is Light weight desktop independent file managers
The list of features, functions, requirements to be best in class is quit long, but simply put, it would be the first choice for the majority of users
I am not saying XFE is best in class (it is still as it was 10 years ago, just OK) but I am saying that a developer with the right skills and attitude can make it so; Where to find that developer is the million dollar question
Thanks again to everyone
Cheers

Meh,

You win some, you lose some...

I was very underwhelmed with zzzFM's GUI, it wasn't until I read the docs and made a few handy action scripts that it really made an impression. Anyway, each to their own and all that, best of luck on your ultimate FM journey!

AVLinux wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 4:47 pm Meh,

You win some, you lose some...

I was very underwhelmed with zzzFM's GUI, it wasn't until I read the docs and made a few handy action scripts that it really made an impression. Anyway, each to their own and all that, best of luck on your ultimate FM journey!

Thanks for understanding
Part of my problems with file managers is ease of use, they should be intuitive; you have a task in mind, the way to do it should be clear and simple, you shouldn't have to think about workarounds or writing scripts or helper applications and plugins; to me this is a waste of time and energy; but that is just me, I am old, fussy, and cranky

hasmak wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 4:33 pm ...but I am saying that a developer with the right skills and attitude can make it so; Where to find that developer is the million dollar question

I guess you need to find a skilled X/Wayland/etc C++ developer who has a hankering to work on a old file manager

My gut feeling is that it would be harder to take over an old project, whose original maintainer has lost interest in it, than to start again from scratch. I fear that the people with the skills to do either, will have many other calls on their time.

Of all the things that you might develop for X or Wayland, a file manager is far from the hardest (I wrote one myself, about twenty years ago, for Angstrom Linux). A learning opportunity, maybe ?

BR, Lars.

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 6:57 am

hasmak wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 4:33 pm ...but I am saying that a developer with the right skills and attitude can make it so; Where to find that developer is the million dollar question

I guess you need to find a skilled X/Wayland/etc C++ developer who has a hankering to work on a old file manager

My gut feeling is that it would be harder to take over an old project, whose original maintainer has lost interest in it, than to start again from scratch. I fear that the people with the skills to do either, will have many other calls on their time.

Of all the things that you might develop for X or Wayland, a file manager is far from the hardest (I wrote one myself, about twenty years ago, for Angstrom Linux). A learning opportunity, maybe ?

BR, Lars.

Thanks
I guess my only viable option is to start learning, and see where it goes
I heard about IDEs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrate ... nvironment and was doing some reading, it seems quit a broad subject, perhaps if someone with more experience can guide me and direct me to where to start, something that is GUI driven for absolute dummies with drag and drop or flowchart and as little as possible CLI, I would be grateful
Thanks again

May I ask what programming experience you have? IDEs may take some of the drudgery out of coding, but they're a poor substitute for practical experience. If you're not all that familiar with programming, trying to write something for a Linux GUI probably isn't a great place to start. Not only have you got to get on top of the programming language, but you've got to learn the architecture of X/Wayland applications, and APIs for whatever libraries or frameworks you choose to use. You'll also have to master the platform-specific debugging methods that this kind of development requires.

Most Linux developers use GUI libraries like GTK or Qt to handle the low-level bits of the user interface. The good thing about using these libraries is that you can support both X and Wayland without a lot of additional work. The down-side, of course, is that they tend to be a bit chunky. XFE uses the FOX toolkit, which I would argue was a niche choice, even back when the project started. It's not something I'd recommend learning these days -- wxWidgets or FLTK probably have a bit more life in them, if you want something really light. Still, GTK and Qt probably account for 95% of all GUI applications on Linux (that's a wild guess, of course), which makes it relatively easy to find sample applications and documentation. And there are specialist forums for discussing these things. Thunar, I think, uses GTK. Using GTK effectively in C requires learning the (horrible) Glib object-orientated framework for C. Using GTK in C++ probably requires a specific C++ library like gtkmm. Not straightforward, but not a ghastly as Glib. When I last looked, Qt only programmed in C++, but it had a bunch of Qt-specific concepts and tooling that you wouldn't come across, unless you were specifically learning Qt.

I don't want to dampen anybody's enthusiasm, but I think you'd need a really solid grounding in at least one programming language, before even starting to tackle Linux GUI development. That means plodding through a college-level textbook, doing all the examples, perhaps with input from an instructor. Until AI comes along and takes all our jobs, I'm not sure there's any point skipping this step -- you'll only regret it later.

If you're already a skilled programmer, and just have to learn specific stuff about the Linux GUI, then that's a different matter.

BR, Lars.

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 10:33 am May I ask what programming experience you have? IDEs may take some of the drudgery out of coding, but they're a poor substitute for practical experience.

BR, Lars.

Experience = zero
I did some development of relational databases on MS Access but that was way back more than 20 years ago; So, practical experience on linux = zero
On the other hand, I like to tinker with stuff, so, I'll look at material online and see how it goes, what harm could I do?
Thanks again
All the best

lars_the_bear wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 6:57 am
Of all the things that you might develop for X or Wayland, a file manager is far from the hardest (I wrote one myself, about twenty years ago, for Angstrom Linux). A learning opportunity, maybe ?

BR, Lars.

Haha!

I have a friend who's an Industrial Electronics technician and he brought me an old embedded touchscreen unit used as a time clock interface for employees to punch in and out. He had repaired the touchscreen but somehow the OS on the units would no longer boot so it brought it to me since he's not acquainted with Linux... The OS was Angstrom Linux!!

I was very fortunate he had 2 units and I was able to DD the working OS from one to the other but that variant of Angstrom was based on some ancient Debian (Sarge or Woody maybe) that I couldn't really have done much with. Anyway they are still in service!

hasmak wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 11:15 am Experience = zero
I did some development of relational databases on MS Access but that was way back more than 20 years ago; So, practical experience on linux = zero
On the other hand, I like to tinker with stuff, so, I'll look at material online and see how it goes, what harm could I do?

Computer programming is hard. Like, really hard. And some languages like C++ are unforgiving when it comes to mistakes both subtle and gross. Not to mention that if a major project has a list of dependencies, one would also have to learn those dependencies and the project build system to boot.

Never say never, and I'm sure recent advancements in AI can help, but asking "Does anyone know C++?" because you want to add some features to your favorite tool is a bit like asking "Is anyone a mechanic?" because you want to redesign your car. Worse, since this is an existing project with an active developer whose body of work you want to fork: because you want to redesign your neighbor's car.

DukeComposed wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 1:28 pm
Never say never, and I'm sure recent advancements in AI can help, but asking "Does anyone know C++?" because you want to add some features to your favorite tool is a bit like asking "Is anyone a mechanic?" because you want to redesign your car. Worse, since this is an existing project with an active developer whose body of work you want to fork: because you want to redesign your neighbor's car.

That was derogatory and uncalled for

hasmak wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 1:52 pm That was derogatory and uncalled for

I strongly urge you to consider what you've asked and re-evaluate that statement. Best of luck to you in learning Linux software development.

I'm a retired software engineer, and I have forked a few projects (none were file managers) just to add some behavior I was after. This is a common practice. However, I have used xfe in the past and didn't like it vs. other file managers that are more actively maintained. But I haven't tried it in several years.

Why do you prefer xfe over the set of GUI FMs that MXPI offers (Dolphin, Nemo, Thunar, PCManFM, ROX, SpaceFM, Sunflower)?

There are some rare Angels..

Several years ago the Cinelerra-CV Video editor was starting to bit rot and seeing one or two git commits per month in about 4 divided forks, stability was a huge issue... A retired software engineer and his wife from Colorado took it on as a retirement project and in a few short years the software was transformed from barely useable to extremely Stable and feature-packed. Tragically the main developer was killed in a bicycle accident but his wife and a few new volunteers continue to work on it albeit at a significantly slowed pace. I've never seen anything like what happened with Cinelerra due to the completely altruistic efforts of Bill and Phyllis.

AVLinux wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:16 pm There are some rare Angels..

Several years ago the Cinelerra-CV Video editor was starting to bit rot and seeing one or two git commits per month in about 4 divided forks, stability was a huge issue... A retired software engineer and his wife from Colorado took it on as a retirement project and in a few short years the software was transformed from barely useable to extremely Stable and feature-packed. Tragically the main developer was killed in a bicycle accident but his wife and a few new volunteers continue to work on it albeit at a significantly slowed pace. I've never seen anything like what happened with Cinelerra due to the completely altruistic efforts of Bill and Phyllis.

What Jerry and anti and the crew they put together did with antiX and Mepis has been pretty extraordinary, if you ask me.

uncle mark wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:54 pm

AVLinux wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:16 pm There are some rare Angels..

Several years ago the Cinelerra-CV Video editor was starting to bit rot and seeing one or two git commits per month in about 4 divided forks, stability was a huge issue... A retired software engineer and his wife from Colorado took it on as a retirement project and in a few short years the software was transformed from barely useable to extremely Stable and feature-packed. Tragically the main developer was killed in a bicycle accident but his wife and a few new volunteers continue to work on it albeit at a significantly slowed pace. I've never seen anything like what happened with Cinelerra due to the completely altruistic efforts of Bill and Phyllis.

What Jerry and anti and the crew they put together did with antiX and Mepis has been pretty extraordinary, if you ask me.

Second that!

uncle mark wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:54 pm

AVLinux wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:16 pm There are some rare Angels..

Several years ago the Cinelerra-CV Video editor was starting to bit rot and seeing one or two git commits per month in about 4 divided forks, stability was a huge issue... A retired software engineer and his wife from Colorado took it on as a retirement project and in a few short years the software was transformed from barely useable to extremely Stable and feature-packed. Tragically the main developer was killed in a bicycle accident but his wife and a few new volunteers continue to work on it albeit at a significantly slowed pace. I've never seen anything like what happened with Cinelerra due to the completely altruistic efforts of Bill and Phyllis.

What Jerry and anti and the crew they put together did with antiX and Mepis has been pretty extraordinary, if you ask me.

Absolutely! Couldn't agree more! I was simply talking about it in context of a single project that had languished like the OP was talking about.

I tried every file manager in MX I coud get my hands on. Thunar mounts drives and network shares easily and is the only reason I haven't uninstalled it, can't is more accurate. I don't care for it's interface. DoubleComm is my favorite and has been since windows but it won't easily do what thunar does so I have to keep both which is kind of annoying. zzzFM? Not a chance will I ever use that again. Nice gui but that's all.

imschmeg wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 3:01 pm I'm a retired software engineer, and I have forked a few projects (none were file managers) just to add some behavior I was after. This is a common practice. However, I have used xfe in the past and didn't like it vs. other file managers that are more actively maintained. But I haven't tried it in several years.

Why do you prefer xfe over the set of GUI FMs that MXPI offers (Dolphin, Nemo, Thunar, PCManFM, ROX, SpaceFM, Sunflower)?

Thanks for the reply
Let me explain the situation;
I have recently migrated from windows, on windows the one and only file manager I used was Q-Dir http://www.q-dir.com/
Q-Dir is a multi panel, multi tab, highly customizable and extremely user friendly
Ever since I moved to linux, I always compared whatever file manger I was using (and I tried all the above and more) to Q-Dir
Most of the file managers I tried on linux are quit good, and each has its merits, and eventually did the job; but on the whole everyone of them fell short of Q-Dir.
This led me to think, What is the difference? and I think it's the amount of effort and thought the developer has put into simplicity and ease of use, what would take 3 clicks to do on Thunar, required only 1 click on Q-dir; and what needed 7 seconds can be done in 3 seconds on Q-dir. This is done so intuitively and effortlessly that the user doesn't think about it.
To appreciate Q-Dir, you have to use it for a while, not just look at casually.
Of Topic: That leads me to a question for all the developers and programmers who generously gave their time for this topic, on windows, left-click-drag performs the default action (copy or move) and right-click-drag would open a context menu with alternative actions. Right-click-drag is not available in any of the file managers I tried !!!; is this tradition or is it an inherent limitation of linux
Back to topic: Why XFE?
The first time I used XFE, the look and feel reminded me of Q-Dir (Nostalgia) and I liked the developers approach to customization, and because the development was stalled I naively thought that maybe the base code can be used to improve and extend its functionality and usability, and I must admit that it was short sighted and impulsive.
So, here we are; and unless someone with more knowledge and experience, finds it in his good heart, has the time and is willing to have a look at the code, and advice me whether this is doable and how to do it, I guess I am going no where
Thanks again to everyone and all the best

hasmak wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 1:52 pmThat was derogatory and uncalled for

No it was not.

hasmak wrote:Back to topic: Why XFE?
The first time I used XFE, the look and feel reminded me of Q-Dir (Nostalgia) and I liked the developers approach to customization, and because the development was stalled I naively thought that maybe the base code can be used to improve and extend its functionality and usability, and I must admit that it was short sighted and impulsive.
So, here we are; and unless someone with more knowledge and experience, finds it in his good heart, has the time and is willing to have a look at the code, and advice me whether this is doable and how to do it, I guess I am going no where
Thanks again to everyone and all the best

There are plenty of file managers (such as ones included with desktop environments) that do right-click operations (usually a menu). A lot has changed in the last 10 years in the Linux world, I wouldn't have even considered Linux as a serious alternative to Windows that long ago.

AK-47 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 12:13 am
No it was not.

Yes it was
Perhaps you can ask the poster what his intention was

AK-47 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 12:13 am There are plenty of file managers (such as ones included with desktop environments) that do right-click operations (usually a menu). A lot has changed in the last 10 years in the Linux world, I wouldn't have even considered Linux as a serious alternative to Windows that long ago.

I think you misunderstood my question; it is not about right-click actions; it is about right-click ==> hold the button ==> drag to another place ==> release the button ==> trigger context menu for operations in that other place
If you know a file manger that has this function, let me know which one

Well, one has to start somewhere. But if you have zero experience I would recommend starting with non-gui programs, i.e. terminal applications. Maybe even bash scripting and effectively using the GNU coreutils to accomplish things. Diving into an existing codebase of a (quasi) abandoned GUI project that uses some niche toolkit is huge mountain to climb.

But all that said, it's FOSS. You can create a git repo, fork the code and give it a go. If you need a small and just very specific feature (maybe a custom sorting algorithm in the file manager), there's a chance you might be successful.

FYI, Thunar has in fact a right-drag menu: click right and quickly start dragging and you'll get a menu. Just sayin'

hasmak wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2024 5:05 pmPart of my problems with file managers is ease of use, they should be intuitive; you have a task in mind, the way to do it should be clear and simple, you shouldn't have to think about workarounds or writing scripts or helper applications and plugins; to me this is a waste of time and energy; but that is just me, I am old, fussy, and cranky

hasmak wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 7:52 amI guess my only viable option is to start learning, and see where it goes
I heard about IDEs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrate ... nvironment and was doing some reading, it seems quit a broad subject, perhaps if someone with more experience can guide me and direct me to where to start, something that is GUI driven for absolute dummies with drag and drop or flowchart and as little as possible CLI, I would be grateful

So... if I take those two quotes at face value, you're willing to invest an enormous amount of time and energy to learn programming* but you're unwilling to invest significantly less time and energy to adapt the best of the FM pack (best for you, even if not perfect) to your requirements and get used to some of the workarounds, as you apparently got used to Q-Dir's?

hasmak wrote: ↑Fri Nov 15, 2024 6:27 pmThis is done so intuitively and effortlessly that the user doesn't think about it.
To appreciate Q-Dir, you have to use it for a while, not just look at casually.

Exactly... and that's true for every non-trivial piece of software.

* As others have said, you massively underestimate the combined difficulties of setting up a dev environment, learning the language, learning the OS and library APIs and getting to grips with whatever GUI toolkit is used.

thomasl wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:32 am * As others have said, you massively underestimate the combined difficulties of setting up a dev environment, learning the language, learning the OS and library APIs and getting to grips with whatever GUI toolkit is used.

Especially when that programming language is C++.

thomasl wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:32 am FYI, Thunar has in fact a right-drag menu: click right and quickly start dragging and you'll get a menu. Just sayin'

Thanks for the tip
You really have to be quick (milliseconds) but I can live with it

thomasl wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:32 am * As others have said, you massively underestimate the combined difficulties of setting up a dev environment, learning the language, learning the OS and library APIs and getting to grips with whatever GUI toolkit is used.

As I said before, naive, impulsive, and possibly stupid; so everyone keeps reminding me

hasmak wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 4:35 amYes it was
Perhaps you can ask the poster what his intention was

No. There was nothing derogatory about it. If you're going to accuse someone please have something to back it up, it is up to you to ascertain the poster's intention.

hasmak wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 4:35 amI think you misunderstood my question; it is not about right-click actions; it is about right-click ==> hold the button ==> drag to another place ==> release the button ==> trigger context menu for operations in that other place
If you know a file manger that has this function, let me know which one

Fair call, but I guess not many have this feature because nobody saw a use for it, so there is no motivation for a developer to implement it. Either they have not heard of such a thing (and you could be the first to suggest the idea), or they don't think there is enough demand to justify the feature. A suggestion to the team in charge of your favourite FM could go a long way.

A feature like that may take up a few dozen or hundreds of lines of code, working around UI toolkit methods and all sorts of issues. I have seen seemingly simple features occupy a lot of code because of all the roundabout methods involved just to get it working as intended, and in particular, working without breaking important functionality.

One thing I have found is that, Linux's GUI framework state is a horrific mess in comparison to Windows or Mac OS due to fragmentation. We have Qt, Gtk, FLTK, wxWidgets, and dozens of others, but no native API to tie all these frameworks together. This used to be the case with things like audio daemons also but Pipewire is slowly but surely sorting that out.

So ultimately, if no file manager has such a feature, it's likely because there is insufficient demand to justify implementing that feature, or they haven't heard of such a thing in the first place.

This post has run its course and am locking it.