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diff --git a/docs/2026-06-10-file-manager-evaluation.org b/docs/2026-06-10-file-manager-evaluation.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da613fb --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/2026-06-10-file-manager-evaluation.org @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +#+TITLE: File Manager Options for Wayland — 2026 Evaluation +#+DATE: 2026-06-10 +#+DESCRIPTION: GUI + TUI file manager review. Verdict: keep nautilus; add yazi over porting ranger. + +* Current state +Ratio + velox run Hyprland (pure Wayland). GUI: nautilus + nautilus-open-any-terminal. Most real file +work happens in Emacs dired/dirvish (previews already wired). ranger exists only on the legacy X11 setup; +the Wayland machines have no TUI file manager. + +* GUI field +| Manager | Toolkit / Wayland | Theme fit (Adwaita-dark GTK env) | Typed path / keyboard | Status mid-2026 | +|--------------+--------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------| +| nautilus | GTK4 + libadwaita, native Wayland | Native — libadwaita dark is the house look | C-l path entry, good type-ahead, sane defaults | Actively developed (GNOME core); Sushi previewer now GTK4 | +| thunar | GTK3, runs native Wayland | Good (GTK3 Adwaita-dark) | C-l toggleable path bar, light and quick | Active (Xfce 4.20, Dec 2024); Xfce Wayland still experimental | +| dolphin | Qt6/KF6, first-class Wayland (KDE primary) | Needs adwaita-qt shim; adwaita-qt itself is stagnant | Best-in-class: C-l, split view, terminal panel | Very active, but drags KDE Frameworks deps for one app | +| nemo | GTK3, works on Wayland, X11-first heritage | Good (GTK3) | C-l works; Nautilus-3 era ergonomics | Maintained by Mint (6.4.x); Cinnamon Wayland still experimental | +| pcmanfm-qt | Qt6 (LXQt 2.x), Wayland OK | Same adwaita-qt caveat as dolphin | Basic; weakest keyboard story here | Maintained, slow cadence, deliberately minimal | +| cosmic-files | Rust/iced, Wayland-native | Own iced theming — ignores both GTK and Qt themes | Decent shortcuts, still filling gaps | First stable Dec 2025 (Pop 24.04); fast 1.0.x iteration, young | + +* TUI field +| Manager | Image preview in foot (sixel) | Speed / footprint | Plugins / zoxide | Status mid-2026 | +|---------+-----------------------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------| +| yazi | Built-in: auto-detects sixel/kitty/ueberzug++; video covers too | Rust, async I/O, fastest here | Lua plugin system + ya pkg mgr; zoxide built in (z) | Very active: v26.5.6 (May 2026), monthly releases | +| ranger | ueberzug/w3m paths are X11-bound; sixel only via hacks | Python, slowest of the set | rifle/rc.conf ecosystem; zoxide via plugin | Effectively frozen: still 1.9.4, 700+ open issues, no releases | +| lf | Sixel on by default since r38; you script the previewer | Go single binary, very fast | No plugin system — shell scripts; zoxide via wrapper | Active (r38+, 2025-2026 fixes for sixel/tmux) | +| nnn | Via preview-tui plugin + chafa; works but assembly required | C, tiniest and fastest startup | Shell-script plugin dir; zoxide via plugin | Active: 5.2 "Blue Hawaii", steady cadence | +| broot | Minimal image support; tree-nav tool, not a previewer | Rust, fast | Verbs/config, not plugins; zoxide overlaps its role | Maintained; different paradigm (fuzzy tree jump) | + +* Verdict +GUI: keep nautilus. It's the only candidate that is simultaneously native-Wayland, native to the +Adwaita-dark look (libadwaita is the reference implementation of it), actively developed, and already +integrated (open-any-terminal). Dolphin is the only functional upgrade, but it costs the KDE Frameworks +dependency tree and leans on adwaita-qt, which is no longer meaningfully maintained — a bad trade for a +secondary tool in a dired-centric workflow. cosmic-files is the one to re-check in a year: development +pace is high, but it's young and its iced theming won't match the rest of the desktop. + +TUI: add yazi; don't port ranger to the Wayland machines. ranger is the clear loser here — frozen at +1.9.4 with X11-bound preview machinery that doesn't work in foot. yazi previews images (and video +covers) in foot via sixel with zero preview scripting, ships zoxide integration, and is the most +actively developed tool in the set. Its role stays narrow — quick browsing and bulk ops in a terminal +or over ssh when Emacs isn't at hand — so the cost is one pacman package. The one caveat: yazi still +labels itself "heavy development, expect breaking changes," so config may need occasional touch-ups; if +that churn grates, lf (sixel-on-by-default, near-zero config surface) is the stable fallback. Skipping +a TUI entirely also remains defensible given dirvish covers previews, but at this price yazi earns the slot. + +* Sources +- https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi/releases (v26.5.6, 2026-05-05) +- https://yazi-rs.github.io/ +- https://github.com/ranger/ranger (no releases; Arch ships 1.9.4) +- https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/releases (r38: sixel default-on) +- https://github.com/jarun/nnn (5.2 "Blue Hawaii") +- https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-File-Previewer-GTK4 +- https://9to5linux.com/xfce-4-20-desktop-environment-released-with-experimental-wayland-support +- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COSMIC_desktop (Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS stable, 2025-12-11) +- https://blog.system76.com/post/cosmic-epoch-2-and-3-roadmap/ +- https://github.com/linuxmint/nemo |