GNU Midnight Commander • Hacker News Board

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#241

Post by saulpw » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:42 PM UTC

killerstorm wrote: post #154

userbinator wrote: post #12

dual-pane file manager For some reason, the technical term for these is Orthodox File Manager , which I've always thought was an obscure cultural in-joke from the countries where these were most popular --- Eastern Europe and the former USSR. This origin is elaborated at length here: https://softpanorama.org/Articles/introduction_to_orthodox_f...

I'd say "Orthodox File Manager" is a forced meme by the author of the article. (Note that he links to his older article, etc.) 20-25 years ago when this kind of file managers were all the rage for power users I was in a Fidonet/Usenet discussion group with the most fanatical of these users, often sysadmins, plugin devs, etc. I don't think "orthodox" was used as a term - sometimes it was used as an epithet, maybe, sor…

For better or worse, that's what they're called: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager#Orthodox_file_man...

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#242

Post by kwanbix » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:44 PM UTC

TiredOfLife wrote: post #96

hdrz wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try doublecmd[1], much better then tc, open source, updated frequently, works on all platforms. Oh and written in object pascal, which I like a lot! [1]: https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io

Tried it on linux. It crashed while moving folder. Like the main thing it's used for.

It works fine for me. When did you tested it?

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#243

Post by reaperducer » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:45 PM UTC

unixhero wrote: post #126

aquir wrote: post #62

After moving from Windows to MacOS mc is the closest to Total Commander - the only software that I’m still missing from MacOS. Reminds me to DOS Navigator and Volkov Commander or even FAR

Midnight Commander is available under Brew. https://brew.sh/ The command to install it is: brew install mc

The command to install it is:

brew install mc

The Midnight Commander web site says to use

  % brew install midnight-commander

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#244

Post by hollowonepl » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

dim13 wrote: post #211

hollowonepl wrote: post #210

what's new about it? or is it just a reminder that `mc` still exists?

… since 1994

That’s what I know since 1994 as well. thus surprised it’s published here with landing page only and no specific news. Unless I missed one? Is there some 31 years celebration or sth? :)

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#245

Post by reaperducer » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:48 PM UTC

javaunsafe2019 wrote: post #74

We all know it’s a clone of the Norton commander.

We all know it’s a clone of the Norton commander.

PathMinder pre-dates Norton Commander by two years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PathMinder

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#246

Post by browningstreet » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 3:59 PM UTC

kouteiheika wrote: post #15

I love Midnight Commander so much; I install it on every system I use. It's so much more efficient/pleasant when in comes to navigating the filesystem and doing basic operations, especially when you learn the shortcuts and learn how to use it along with other command-line tools (hint: if you press Ctrl+O in MC it will switch to a normal shell command prompt it the directory you're in, and you can press Ctrl+O again t…

Interestingly, the latest GNOME sorta supports something similar, as a new feature:

> ..a “Ctrl + dot” keyboard shortcut for opening the current directory in the terminal

https://9to5linux.com/gnome-49-brescia-desktop-environment-o...

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#247

Post by bee_rider » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

abcd_f wrote: post #124

Klaster_1 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in Russia, "orthodox" has an extra connotation that's not strictly coupled to church, akin more to "one true way", as in "orthodox way to learn a tech stack". With a negation, it becomes something like "wrong" or even "heretical", as in "pizza with pineapple".

This is incorrect. Ортодоксальный doesn't carry these connotations at all. If anything, it describes something that is stuck in old ways and/or pointlessly rigid.

I find this whole thread a bit confusing—the comment two up describes “orthodox” meaning one-true-way as a Russian thing, but this is also part of the connotation in English.

You describe it as not having this “one true way” connotation, but as having this pointlessly rigid connotation. In English, I think it has both connotations. Although, almost any phrase which has an implication of “one true way” can end up with a double meaning of “pointlessly rigid,” right? (It is context dependent, of course).

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#248

Post by bee_rider » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 4:16 PM UTC

Klaster_1 wrote: post #22

userbinator wrote: post #12

dual-pane file manager For some reason, the technical term for these is Orthodox File Manager , which I've always thought was an obscure cultural in-joke from the countries where these were most popular --- Eastern Europe and the former USSR. This origin is elaborated at length here: https://softpanorama.org/Articles/introduction_to_orthodox_f...

At least in Russia, "orthodox" has an extra connotation that's not strictly coupled to church, akin more to "one true way", as in "orthodox way to learn a tech stack". With a negation, it becomes something like "wrong" or even "heretical", as in "pizza with pineapple".

I think this is also the connotation in English. We got it from Greek mostly, correct? I thought it meant something like “right-belief.”

It can be contrasted against orthopraxy, right-practice, where the actions are more important than the belief or intent.

Based on the other comments here, these orthodox file browsers are based on a sort of underlying language,

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45271878

> The "orthodox" comes from a specific type of GUI, namely one that is driven by commands under the hood. UI elements are merely used to trigger commands that have the actual effect, and these commands could just as well be executed by hand, or automated into more complex commands.

It… kind of makes sense actually, if we stretch the definitions a bit, haha. The orthodox UI has some button, which is translated into a sequence of commands that represent the actual user intent.

The alternative is just to have the button do the thing directly, there’s no description of the user intent other than what the button does. It is quite a stretch but maybe we could call that the an Orthoprax UI.

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#249

Post by klodolph » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 4:16 PM UTC

thendrill wrote: post #171

kouteiheika wrote: post #15

I love Midnight Commander so much; I install it on every system I use. It's so much more efficient/pleasant when in comes to navigating the filesystem and doing basic operations, especially when you learn the shortcuts and learn how to use it along with other command-line tools (hint: if you press Ctrl+O in MC it will switch to a normal shell command prompt it the directory you're in, and you can press Ctrl+O again t…

I have loved it since '99, when my friends used to tell me that to be a linux admin you have to stay up late because midnight commander works only after midnight ! Slackware 7 <3

Right now, is it after midnight, or before midnight, where you live?

Re: GNU Midnight Commander

#250

Post by iLemming » Wed, Sep 17, 2025, 4:23 PM UTC

Those who still remember Norton and Far Commanders, can you recall this favorite song of yours, once even featured in "Madagascar"?

,

I like to move it, move it!

,

Move it!