Who are these for? People who use the terminal but don’t like running shell commands?
OK sorry for throwing shade. If you use one of these, honestly, what features do you use that make it worthwhile?
EDIT: Just to clarify, my point is I would almost always reach for fzf, fd, or rg before trying to manually search through a directory in a file manager.
EDIT2: A few people mentioned selecting files in a TUI. I don’t find it any harder to select files using autocomplete. It might even be faster to start typing a name than it is it “scroll” through a list of files.
EDIT3: Here’s a neat tool that can add some flexibility to your shell workflow: https://github.com/urbanogilson/lineselect
With some people, it’s just easier and faster to navigate a filesystem structure if you can just see it all laid out in front of you visually instead of “cd-ing” and “ls-ing” every directory you traverse just to see what’s in it and having to “pwd” and remember where you are. Some of us didn’t do too well at the memory game as kids.
It just strikes a weird niche IMO. If I wanted to explore a directory, I wouldn’t recursively cd; I would use
fdorrg. You’re looking for content, right? That’s how you search a file system for content.Yes but GUI file managers exist and already lay everything out for you by design. Refusing to use one, just because you think you’re too cool to use a mouse is just plain elitism.
Ever hear of headless servers and networking equipment? I’m not gonna forward X through every ssh connection I make to my home machines. Not all of us are using Linux only on the desktop. It’s running my NAS, media streaming server, firewall, DNS ad filter, home automation server, and my security camera DVR. None of which have GUIs installed.