ROX-Filer 2.5 review

ROX-Filer is a fast and powerful graphical file manager for the X Window System. You can use ROX-Filer as a small and fast filer w

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Thomas Leonard

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ROX-Filer is a fast and powerful graphical file manager for the X Window System.

You can use ROX-Filer as a small and fast filer within your current desktop......or get it to manage your pinboard, panels and applications.

Here are some key features of "ROX Filer":
Fast scanning of directories (in the background),
Uncluttered display (popup menus are used throughout),
Background file operations (copy, move, link, delete, permissions, find),
Powerful expression-based find feature with on-line quick reference (eg 'mtime after 2 days ago and size > 10Mb' finds files based on their modification time and size)
Mounts and unmounts filesystems (just Shift-Click on the mount point),
Supports the XDND protocol, which provides for drag-and-drop file loading, and the new XDS extension which allows drag-and-drop saving,
VfS support allows browsing around inside zip files (and other types of archive),
Fully configurable from the Options dialog box,
User-defined key bindings for all menu entries,
A pop-up minibuffer allows navigating the filesystem using shell-style tab completion,
The minibuffer can also be used for quickly entering shell commands,
Full manual provided (HTML format),

Other features:

XDND

A common drag-and-drop protocol used, for example, by the GNOME desktop[GNOME]. This allows data to be loaded into an application by dragging it from a filer window to a program. The full specification is given in [DND].

XDS

An extension to XDND that allows applications to save data by dragging an icon back to a filer window. The full specification is given in [XDS].

Choices

A simple, but flexible, system for managing user choices. See [Choices] for details.
Application directories

Self contained relocatable applications, where installation is as simple as copying it to where you want it and uninstalling it is just a matter of deleting a directory. Described later in this documentation.

Thumbnails

The filer can be made to display image files by using the image itself for the icon, instead of a generic `this-is-an-image' icon. Very useful for organising a directory full of photos! See [Thumbs] for details (spec is still in developement).

Shared MIME Info Database

In the past, each desktop had its own database of rules for determining the type of files. The Shared MIME Info Database[SharedMIME] unifies these into a single system shared by all desktops.

Icon Themes

Collections of file icons, called themes, can be installed (eg, to `~/.icons'). You can switch between themes in the Options box. Once other desktops support this fully, themes will be sharable between desktops.

DNotify support (Linux only)

If used with a recent Linux kernel (2.4.x series), the filer will notice changes to directories automatically. On other systems, directories will update when the pointer is moved over them.

What's New in This Release:
Panel and pinboard icons can now be locked to prevent accidental deletion.
Applications can use stock icons for their menu actions when extending the filer's menu.
File icons can be set and unset through the SOAP API.
An alternative for the mount command can be specified (allowing support for pmount).
A new Manage Thumbnails button in the options box makes it easier to purge old images from the cache.
Various minor bugs have been fixed.
Ukrainian and Vietnamese translations have been added.