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Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

fman.io

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Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#101

Post by jmcdiesel »

mherrmann wrote: post #99
jmcdiesel wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think, paying attention to the comments here, you should consider that your communication is an issue. The whole license in general, the need for it, the "it feels OSS, but its not" ... the artificial license limit... lots of red flags, and a lack of clarity.

The person who said the thing about OSS corrected himself (I assume it's a he) and admitted he just hadn't read the page properly. I just explained why the limit isn't artificial. But you're right, I'm sure my communication can improve. I've been spending a lot of time on this project so am somewhat "blind" to mistakes. All I can do is listen to the feedback here and improve.

I think we'll just have to disagree on the "artificial" thing. It "appears" artificial.

I think the combo of the nag screen and the inability to pay to get rid of it is a big part of the problem. If you're not going to let people buy the software, you shouldn't add a penalty/hurdle/annoyance to their usage.

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#102

Post by mherrmann »

lotsofcows wrote: post #78
mherrmann wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't like about Finder is that it can't be used efficiently with the keyboard. It's the same with Windows Explorer.

Navigate, open, close, cut, copy, paste, rename, delete - what's missing?

All these things are possible via the keyboard in Finder/Explorer. But Finder/Explorer aren't as optimised for keyboard usage as dual-pane file managers (of which fman is an example).

Eg. to copy a file in a dual pane file manager, you usually use some shortcut to jump to the source directory in the left pane, then some shortcut to jump to the destination directory in the right pane, then press F5 to copy from left to right.

In Finder, what you'd do (with keyboard only) is most likely [home directory] down-down-down to source directory, Cmd+C, up-up-up-down-down-down-down to destination directory, Cmd+V. It's hard to describe, but it just takes a lot more time.

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#103

Post by mherrmann »

Jare wrote: post #84
mherrmann wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you mean fman then no: I thought about this long and hard but startup speed is crucial and Electron just doesn't cut it. It's based on PyQt. I wrote a blog post about this: https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-...

I see the Windows version is a 1MB download and the Mac & Linux are 21MB, so I was surprised to ready Python and Qt are involved. I take it the Windows setup is a downloader?

Yes - see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13778676

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#105

Post by mherrmann »

jmcdiesel wrote: post #97
mherrmann wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry you find it so disturbing. Especially since you said in another comment that being able to pay for a piece of software makes it appealing to you. I think that's cool because I'm not a big fan of freeloaders. I didn't think fman would be so successful here. I believed that if I had told people "buy this whenever you feel like it", then they simply wouldn't have bought. At least that would be what I would do. Ano…

I just think, unfortunately for you and the project... you took a good boost of traffic by getting a near-top HN story and just let it die. You probably won't get a gift like this again... Speaking for myself, I won't be using the software. I would have paid for it, as I want a GUI side-by-side, but i couldn't. A nag screen I can't even pay to get rid of is all but insulting, so I won't be loading the software, so th…

Sad to see you go, but I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#106

Post by mherrmann »

huhtenberg wrote: post #41
mherrmann wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm nearly sold out [1] so I don't see a problem selling this. Far manager is command-line only. 24% of my visitors are on Mac, Windows is 34% - hardly 1/10. [1]: https://fman.io/buy

> I'm nearly sold out Can I ask what your sales goals/expectations are? Being "sold out" on software licenses certainly looks like a marketing trick rather than a meaningful demand quantifier. > 24% of my visitors are on Mac, Windows is 34% - hardly 1/10 The 1/10 is the actual rate of Mac to Windows desktop shares. The fact that you are getting 24/34 simply means that you are either not reaching Windows audience or t…

Re "sold out": I explained this in other comments [1], [2].

I believe more and more people are using Macs, especially among my (narrowest) target audience (programmers). That's why I'm seeing ratios different from the average.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13777696

[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13778808

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#108

Post by mherrmann »

nickodell wrote: post #107

This broke apt-get update on my system, by adding an https update method. I assume the author must have apt-transport-https installed, or something.

Sorry about that :/ It adds /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fman.list so you can update fman with apt. Isn't non-https unsafe?

Re: Show HN: fman – file manager for programmers

#109

Post by mherrmann »

jmcdiesel wrote: post #101
mherrmann wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person who said the thing about OSS corrected himself (I assume it's a he) and admitted he just hadn't read the page properly. I just explained why the limit isn't artificial. But you're right, I'm sure my communication can improve. I've been spending a lot of time on this project so am somewhat "blind" to mistakes. All I can do is listen to the feedback here and improve.

I think we'll just have to disagree on the "artificial" thing. It "appears" artificial. I think the combo of the nag screen and the inability to pay to get rid of it is a big part of the problem. If you're not going to let people buy the software, you shouldn't add a penalty/hurdle/annoyance to their usage.

You're right that the combo sucks. I'll have to come up with something. I didn't think this through properly in advance.
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