I had the exact same journey as you, I even very nearly install GNUStep because the file manager had miller columns. I even started to think that perhaps Apple

I had the exact same journey as you, I even very nearly install GNUStep because the file manager had miller columns. I even started to think that perhaps Apple has an active patent on it or something. (this happened with the Genie Lamp minimise effect on Compiz/Beryl- why it needed to have at minimum 3 "waves" before it minimised the window; though you could obviously patch it out). FWIW I found Ranger (TUI) and Pantheon (ElementaryOS) that supports it, if you're still looking.