ThinkBuntu
June 25th, 2007, 02:27 PM
I was very quick to write off the Dolphin file manager in the "Will KDE4 Kill GNOME?" topic, as I was using it with Metacity in GNOME and really didn't put it through its motions, but using it full-time in KDE, I must say that it's a great alternative as a simple file manager to Konqueror.
Although it's missing my most anticipated feature (a column navigation view, like in OSX, which is the best and most efficient file manager I've seen or used), it makes up for it with sane defaults and very user-friendly, compact design.
One thing I would've liked to see is Ctrl+W closing the window, but thanks to easy shortcut mapping, I was able to switch it away from Ctrl+Q. On the other hand, Ctrl+N is there to create a new folder (ah, takes me back to OS 7-9), F2 renames as expected, and the whole thing flows very well. The left pane can be used as a bookmarks section, or, as I prefer, a preview section that is comprehensive in its capabilities (loading HTML pages, images, etc, while showing all relevant file information). Ctrl+F opens a search window instantly, and F4 opens a terminal at this location. The odd Alt+Return is the default shortcut to view properties, which I quickly replaced with Ctrl+I.
There's a filter tool always visible, which is very useful for sorting through bunches of files. Granted, it doesn't search metadata a la Beagle, but its' still a nice tool to have. Ever-present are also a "Compress Here" button that converts a folder to .tar.gz, and an "Open as Root" button. At the top, just like Nautilus there's a breadcrumb navigation and a button to allow directory access by typing, e.g. /home/username/.cia_passwords/
Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to test this with other file systems, such as FTP, but the combination of Split View and FTP access could be very powerful and all but eliminate my need for Kasablanca.
These are all technicalities, and I'm sure that Dolphin is due for some major changes over time. I'm running Dolphin 0.8.2 over KDE 3.5.7, so depending on your version (say, Kubuntu 6.06), you may see a rougher version of Dolphin. But in any case, what really sets Dolphin apart are these things:
Generally speedy
Opens instantly
Full-featured
A path to separate online from local browsing for Konqueror users
Nicely simplified interface without sacrificing functionality
Granted, some will cry foul that there's no tree view, but for those of us with smaller screens, tree view is not very useful when the expanded contents of just a few folders grab more vertical space than we have. I'll be very pleased running Dolphin as my file manager in KDE for the forseeable future, and best of all, this will give me the chance to use Konqueror for what it really is: a web browser.
Note: I'll update this post once my Dolphin as default filesystem Tutorial is approved in the Tips & Tutorials forum.
Although it's missing my most anticipated feature (a column navigation view, like in OSX, which is the best and most efficient file manager I've seen or used), it makes up for it with sane defaults and very user-friendly, compact design.
One thing I would've liked to see is Ctrl+W closing the window, but thanks to easy shortcut mapping, I was able to switch it away from Ctrl+Q. On the other hand, Ctrl+N is there to create a new folder (ah, takes me back to OS 7-9), F2 renames as expected, and the whole thing flows very well. The left pane can be used as a bookmarks section, or, as I prefer, a preview section that is comprehensive in its capabilities (loading HTML pages, images, etc, while showing all relevant file information). Ctrl+F opens a search window instantly, and F4 opens a terminal at this location. The odd Alt+Return is the default shortcut to view properties, which I quickly replaced with Ctrl+I.
There's a filter tool always visible, which is very useful for sorting through bunches of files. Granted, it doesn't search metadata a la Beagle, but its' still a nice tool to have. Ever-present are also a "Compress Here" button that converts a folder to .tar.gz, and an "Open as Root" button. At the top, just like Nautilus there's a breadcrumb navigation and a button to allow directory access by typing, e.g. /home/username/.cia_passwords/
Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to test this with other file systems, such as FTP, but the combination of Split View and FTP access could be very powerful and all but eliminate my need for Kasablanca.
These are all technicalities, and I'm sure that Dolphin is due for some major changes over time. I'm running Dolphin 0.8.2 over KDE 3.5.7, so depending on your version (say, Kubuntu 6.06), you may see a rougher version of Dolphin. But in any case, what really sets Dolphin apart are these things:
Generally speedy
Opens instantly
Full-featured
A path to separate online from local browsing for Konqueror users
Nicely simplified interface without sacrificing functionality
Granted, some will cry foul that there's no tree view, but for those of us with smaller screens, tree view is not very useful when the expanded contents of just a few folders grab more vertical space than we have. I'll be very pleased running Dolphin as my file manager in KDE for the forseeable future, and best of all, this will give me the chance to use Konqueror for what it really is: a web browser.
Note: I'll update this post once my Dolphin as default filesystem Tutorial is approved in the Tips & Tutorials forum.