install thunar: a light weight file manager on gnome

[infra_red_dude]

i wanted to try out this file manager and now i've almost completely switched over to thunar (except some cases where nautilus is inevitable)

download and install thunar & related plugins plus gtweakui (for modifying nautilus)

sudo apt-get install thunar thunar-archive-plugin libthunar-vfs-1-2 thunar-media-tags-plugin thunar-volman-plugin gtweakui

now download this script (for gnome users, to change from nautilus to thunar as the default file manager): *www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/defaultthunar.sh

make this script executable by keying this command in the terminal in the folder where u saved the script and then run it:

chmod +x defaultthunar.sh
./defaultthunar.sh

this will set thunar as the default file manager, tho nautilus still exists. if you haf any shortcuts to folders then in the properties dialog replace "nautilus" wid "thunar".

now lets strip down nautilus to its bare minimum (for use in extreme cases where thunar doesn't work). run gtweakui-nautilus from system>preferences. uncheck "always use browser mode", this will strip nautilus interface to the minimum. do not modify anything else. nautilus is still used to draw desktop. but as of now there is no fix for this. i'm searching.

also to solve issues wid removable storage, launch gconf-editor. navigate to /desktop/gnome/applications/component_viewer and change "nautilus %s" to "thunar %s" in the exec key.

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to revert back to nautilus, jus undo what you've done till now (as indicated above) and run this script instead of the above indicated: *www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/restorenautilus.sh

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screenshots

this is the heavy nautilus file manager before stripping down:
*img115.imageshack.us/img115/2998/screenshotnautilusfilebws9.th.png

this is the new thunar file manager:
*img105.imageshack.us/img105/2135/screenshotanirudhfilemags9.th.png

and this is the stripped down nautilus which works in conjunction wid thunar:
*img105.imageshack.us/img105/9476/screenshotdocumentszu7.th.png

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wid jus the default settings its not possible to browse spl locations like samba shares. follow this guide (this applies to XFCE users as well), for enabling this feature in thunar:
*ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=304131

edit: jus found one more guide to make thunar the default file manager. going thru this now.
*assente.altervista.org/it/use_thunar_as_default_gnome_file_manager

 

[praka123]

thunar is default fm fur xfce.tried thunar already.but still feels nautilus "works" for me!(as of 2.18 ).

 

[infra_red_dude]

yeah, but thunar has been really snappy for me i've almost migrated to it. it has jus the features that i need nothing more nothing less!

followed the follwing to replace nautilus:

sudo mv /usr/bin/nautilus /usr/bin/nautilus.real
sudo gedit /usr/bin/nautilus

the contents of /usr/bin/nautilus:

#!/bin/bash


#zenity --info --text="${1}/${@}" #DEBUG
if [ -n "${1}" ]; then
    if [ "${1:0:1}" == "/" ]; then
        thunar "${1}"
    elif [ "${1}" == "--no-desktop" ]; then
        if [ -n "${2}" ]; then
            if [ "${2:0:7}" == "file://" ] || [ "${2:0:1}" == "/" ]; then
                thunar "${2}"
            else
                nautilus.real "${2}"
            fi
        else
            thunar
        fi
    else
        nautilus.real "${@}"
    fi
else
    thunar
fi

now, completely removed nautilus by going to system>preferences>gtweakui-nautilus and unchecking all options. (even the use nautilus to draw desktop option)

now installed xf4desktop package and related (only 3 small packages). after that added "xfdesktop" to system>preferences>session by creating a new entry wid name and command as "xfdesktop". created one more entry there for "xfce4-panel" wid name and command.

now the xfdesktop is used for drawing desktop and the xfce panel gives me the dock style panel. no more nautilus! my system is much more snappier now! bye bye nautilus!

 

[saurabh.sauron]

thunar is real fast. it's not as well featured as nautilus, but gets all my work done. i use it when i use XFCE.

 

[gxsaurav]

Infra, you need to configure nautilas then. How is it slow? Whats your system config.

 

[infra_red_dude]

its not abt being slow. but i feel its bloated... thunar serves my purpose and is lighter than nautilus... thats the only reason..

btw, i haf a compaq lappy wid p4 2.8ghz, 512mb ram..etc...etc..

 

[infra_red_dude]

guys who are using xfce plz suggest some solutions to this. in the xfdesktop config, i've enabled show removable drives. that is coz all the other parititons (ntfs, fat32) are shown under removable drives. but it also shows a floppy drive icon. i wanna remove that. i've tried disabling the floppy drive mount in fstab but no matter what, the icon is shown on the desktop. if i uncheck show removable devices then even the usb flash drives and the phone memory card disappears.

 

[praka123]

may be u can look on some conffiles inside ~/.xfce*

 

[infra_red_dude]

thats the problem! there is no config file for the desktop icons. i looked everywhere....!!!