I do enjoy ranger (TUI) for the reasons you mention, but I find something like pcmanfm feels less powerful, and harder to control. This isn't because pcmanfm i

I do enjoy ranger (TUI) for the reasons you mention, but I find something like pcmanfm feels less powerful, and harder to control. This isn't because pcmanfm is a GUI program, but rather the culture around GUI programs. If you want a good GUI, look at emacs. As good as the TUI version, but with support for images and more colors. It's possible, but rare. I think the devs for each type of program tend to differ in mindset.