4 ms·

Vifm: A Vim-like file manager

40 points by surrTurr 4y ago

Valodim 4y ago
This is one of those projects that could really use a "how does it compare to" section in the readme. The number one question anyone who already uses a similar tool will have is, "How is it better or worse than whatever I'm already using?"
- dogline 4y ago
  That's what I just came here to the HN comments for.
- Linux-Fan 4y ago
  I like using vi-style keybindings for various applications. Hence, for file managing, I had been using `vifm` for a long time and then discovered `ranger`. I switched to it due to its advanced preview capabilities and the default interface being closer to my taste. However, said preview function (and also other functions) sometimes crashed and I recall some strange behaviour of copy operations in ranger when symlinks were involved (?). In any case, I switched back to vifm for stability reasons and have been effectively using it for years. What I had been missing from the console file managers was a "copy & paste between windows" option. With vifm, I implemented it as a patch getting nice assistance from vifm's developer xaizek. This resulted in the (back-then) new feature `syncregs` which I have kept using ever since. Not sure if ranger came to offer something similar in the meantime :) YMMV
DavideNL 4y ago
I want to like this thing, but i always get the feeling that 1 or 2 accidental wrong keypresses could result in total chaos because i’ll have no idea what just happened to my files/folders… (currently using Ranger)
- heyoni 4y ago
  That’s probably why emacs dired has you mark the files for deletion and execute deletion separately.
sbergjohansen 4y ago
vifm allows you to rename multiple files in bulk by opening a temporary file containing one filename per line in actual vim. Edit: apparently ranger has this feature, too.
- dddnzzz334 4y ago
  `vidir` in moreutils [1] does exactly this. [1]: https://joeyh.name/code/moreutils/ https://joeyh.name/code/moreutils/
spccdt 4y ago
I love vifm! It honors the vim philosophy — it’s fast, configurable, and keyboard driven. I have it integrated with vim so that when I press “-“ it toggles a directory view. So seamless that it’s hard to tell that they’re separate apps.
gbraad 4y ago
Ranger for me, similar but in my opinion much better.
- arunix 4y ago
  What makes Ranger better?
philonoist 4y ago
You can take advantage of hybrid user interface with Win-vind you know[0] [0]https://github.com/pit-ray/win-vind https://github.com/pit-ray/win-vind

40 points by surrTurr 4y ago

This is one of those projects that could really use a "how does it compare to" section in the readme. The number one question anyone who already uses a similar tool will have is, "How is it better or worse than whatever I'm already using?"

dogline 4y ago
That's what I just came here to the HN comments for.
Linux-Fan 4y ago
I like using vi-style keybindings for various applications. Hence, for file managing, I had been using `vifm` for a long time and then discovered `ranger`. I switched to it due to its advanced preview capabilities and the default interface being closer to my taste. However, said preview function (and also other functions) sometimes crashed and I recall some strange behaviour of copy operations in ranger when symlinks were involved (?). In any case, I switched back to vifm for stability reasons and have been effectively using it for years. What I had been missing from the console file managers was a "copy & paste between windows" option. With vifm, I implemented it as a patch getting nice assistance from vifm's developer xaizek. This resulted in the (back-then) new feature `syncregs` which I have kept using ever since. Not sure if ranger came to offer something similar in the meantime :) YMMV

DavideNL 4y ago

I want to like this thing, but i always get the feeling that 1 or 2 accidental wrong keypresses could result in total chaos because i’ll have no idea what just happened to my files/folders… (currently using Ranger)

heyoni 4y ago
That’s probably why emacs dired has you mark the files for deletion and execute deletion separately.

sbergjohansen 4y ago

vifm allows you to rename multiple files in bulk by opening a temporary file containing one filename per line in actual vim. Edit: apparently ranger has this feature, too.

dddnzzz334 4y ago
`vidir` in moreutils [1] does exactly this. [1]: https://joeyh.name/code/moreutils/ https://joeyh.name/code/moreutils/

spccdt 4y ago

I love vifm! It honors the vim philosophy — it’s fast, configurable, and keyboard driven. I have it integrated with vim so that when I press “-“ it toggles a directory view. So seamless that it’s hard to tell that they’re separate apps.

gbraad 4y ago

Ranger for me, similar but in my opinion much better.

arunix 4y ago
What makes Ranger better?

philonoist 4y ago

You can take advantage of hybrid user interface with Win-vind you know[0] [0]https://github.com/pit-ray/win-vind https://github.com/pit-ray/win-vind