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Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

marta.yanex.org

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Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#11

Post by crispinb »

dymk wrote: post #6
saagarjha wrote: post #3

What does this app provide that Finder doesn't? I see something about a background operation queue, which Finder does, archive support, which I have a QuickLook plugin for, and gadgets, which I can accomplish with services.

Fully keyboard accessible, which at best Finder.app does badly. IDE-esque "any command" search for operations instead of going through a menu bar.

Those would have been my top two picks also. I'd add: embedded terminal, and plugins. Services are no alternative - try using one, for example, to show/hide hidden files. You'll have time to make a coffee while it's operating.

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#12

Post by crispinb »

yeasayer wrote: post #7

I don't like that file operations are controlled by F1-F8 keys. This UX is unfriendly to macOS environment. Most users' F-row is in media keys mode by default, so you have to hold Fn otherwise. And I'm not even taking into account the Touch Bar.

It's not really unfriendly for developers though, who I would expect make up a decent proportion of the intended audience, and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set.

As for the Touch Bar, yes, that's a problem with the standard keybindings (and is also why I'll probably only be a macOS/Marta user for a few months, as I'll never buy a laptop with a fake keyboard).

But settings to the rescue! Cmd-shift-p & 'open default keybindings' reveals that they're all configurable.

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#13

Post by ovao »

josteink wrote: post #10
cyrusmg wrote: post #2

The file manager seems to be closed-source[1], does anyone know of any good open-source alternatives ? [1] https://github.com/marta-file-manager/

While I think downvoting this comment is unfair, it should be noted that if you care about your OS and tools being open-source, you probably shouldn’t be running OSX in the first place. I might even suggest running Linux. Oh my :)

Limiting the number of entities you need to trust with closed-source software is perfectly sound wisdom, but that number doesn’t need to be zero to be useful.

That’s not to say Marta’s author has any ill intent, because I doubt he or she does.

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#14

Post by mephitix »

saagarjha wrote: post #3

What does this app provide that Finder doesn't? I see something about a background operation queue, which Finder does, archive support, which I have a QuickLook plugin for, and gadgets, which I can accomplish with services.

If you've ever used Total Commander or even Windows 7+ native file explorer it's very hard to go back to or use Finder. Keyboard shortcuts, tokenizing/detokenizing file paths, opening in terminal, searching within files, search for duplicate files, bulk rename, plugins, and more.

Whenever I have a new Mac I spend a couple minutes customizing Finder: adding things like the Path button, showing the Path bar, showing the Status bar, etc. I get that it's supposed to be simple but it's surprising to me that such basic things aren't in the starting configuration.

I do love the spacebar preview though :)

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#15

Post by derefr »

crispinb wrote: post #12
yeasayer wrote: post #7

I don't like that file operations are controlled by F1-F8 keys. This UX is unfriendly to macOS environment. Most users' F-row is in media keys mode by default, so you have to hold Fn otherwise. And I'm not even taking into account the Touch Bar.

It's not really unfriendly for developers though, who I would expect make up a decent proportion of the intended audience, and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set. As for the Touch Bar, yes, that's a problem with the standard keybindings (and is also why I'll probably only be a macOS/Marta user for a few months, as I'll never buy a laptop with a fake keyboard). But settings to the…

> and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set.

I develop for several different platforms on macOS, and have never felt the need to enable that setting, because I've never encountered any macOS software that required the Fn keys in this particular non-idiomatic way. Even macOS IDEs stay away, tending to map things to complex key-chords instead.

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#16

Post by marmaduke »

yeasayer wrote: post #7

I don't like that file operations are controlled by F1-F8 keys. This UX is unfriendly to macOS environment. Most users' F-row is in media keys mode by default, so you have to hold Fn otherwise. And I'm not even taking into account the Touch Bar.

> And I'm not even taking into account the Touch Bar.

Yep: the app provides touch bar buttons for many operations

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#17

Post by anyfoo »

crispinb wrote: post #12
yeasayer wrote: post #7

I don't like that file operations are controlled by F1-F8 keys. This UX is unfriendly to macOS environment. Most users' F-row is in media keys mode by default, so you have to hold Fn otherwise. And I'm not even taking into account the Touch Bar.

It's not really unfriendly for developers though, who I would expect make up a decent proportion of the intended audience, and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set. As for the Touch Bar, yes, that's a problem with the standard keybindings (and is also why I'll probably only be a macOS/Marta user for a few months, as I'll never buy a laptop with a fake keyboard). But settings to the…

> and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set.

Why? As a heavy emacs and Xcode user at least, I rarely need a function key, and prefer the convenience of the media keys.

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#19

Post by yanex »

dymk wrote: post #8

I would love vim keybindings for this. It's much more intuitive than Finder.app's keybindings, but I hate leaving my home row.

The default bindings are just a de facto standard for double-pane file managers. But all key bindings are configurable, and you can set them to whatever you want in the configuration file. Check the documentation [1] for more information.

[1] https://marta.yanex.org/docs#key-bindings

Re: Marta, file manager for macOS, goes beta

#20

Post by crispinb »

anyfoo wrote: post #17
crispinb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really unfriendly for developers though, who I would expect make up a decent proportion of the intended audience, and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set. As for the Touch Bar, yes, that's a problem with the standard keybindings (and is also why I'll probably only be a macOS/Marta user for a few months, as I'll never buy a laptop with a fake keyboard). But settings to the…

> and who surely all have the 'Use F1, F2 keys as standard function keys' set. Why? As a heavy emacs and Xcode user at least, I rarely need a function key, and prefer the convenience of the media keys.

It's just been my experience with developers with macs. No big deal either way.
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