http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux March 2020 LXF260 87HOTPICKS
PERSONAL CLOUD SERVICE
FILE MANAGER
It’s fast, feature-
rich and free
from undesired
dependencies. Get
yourself one!he abundance of choice of open source file
managers sometimes raises the question of
whether each and every application really has
a reason to exist. When we came across QtFM, there’s
no doubt that this powerful application will surely
satisfy its target audience. QtFM is lightweight and
powerful at the same time, it combines many advanced
features of Dolphin while looking as minimalist as
Thunar. QtFM will be a very useful addition to a
custom-built desktop with a minimal set of external
dependencies. Apart from being lighter than Dolphin,
it also does not pull the plethora of KF5 and Plasma
dependencies that you will surely want to escape when
crafting a perfect and smart Qt-based desktop.
QtFM is equipped with many common features, such
as tabs, thumbnails, different view options, custom file
actions, system-tray integration and more. The file
manager layout is very logical in terms of using the
screen space efficiently. Panels for places and the
directory tree are on the left, and tabs are displayed
below the main viewing area. These are the defaults,evice pairing is often associated with Bluetooth
connectivity, but this term seems to be coming
to desktop computing as well. Bonsai is the
name for a new cloud-like sharing service designed to
be set up on the Gnome desktop. The idea is to sync
several computers running the Gnome desktop and
share files, contacts, mail, photos, calendars and so on.
Bonsai provides a daemon and a shared library for
setting up the service. In some way this resembles a
cloud service where your main Linux machine (with
more free disk space) acts like a host, whereas all other
members connect to it and consume shared resources.
Right now Bonsai is an early work in progress, so the
only thing already implemented is file sharing. So in
what way is it different from a convenient file and
directory sharing service? Firstly, your cloud resource is
not solely ‘public’, it is available only to paired clients,
and it’s you who decides who will be granted or denied
the access. Secondly, Christian Hergert, the author and
core Bonsai developer, has big plans on supporting lots
of desktop elements in Bonsai, not just files. The list ofNext-gen sharing
and collaboration
software is
a welcome
addition to the
Gnome desktop.D
T
Bonsai
future goals for libbonsai is to include things like
VPN connections, backup plans, to-do notes, videos,
media albums, etc. The fully fledged implementation
should provide teams with a warehouse of resources
to aid collaborative work.
It’s already possible to build and run Bonsai to see
how it goes. The code can be compiled swiftly using
Meson and Ninja, provided you have a bunch of
common Gnome build dependencies (like libgcrypt,
libgnutls, etc.). Run the bonsaid daemon in the
background and then allow access on the host:
$ bonsai-pair --allow-pairing
After that you can connect to it from another
machine using the following syntax:
$ bonsai-pair --pair-to <hostname>
A long way starts with a small step, and we expect
Bonsai will be growing more mature soon.Version: GIT Web: https://gitlab.
gnome.org/chergert/bonsaiQtFM
and once you select View > Layout > Unlock layout,
you will be able to rearrange everything to your liking.
We realised that QtFM is a third-party project and
it was never meant to be a stock file manager in any
DE, but surprisingly we didn’t encounter any serious
shortcomings even after few days of work. Archives
could be easily restored using the right-click menu,
images, videos and PDFs all showed correct previews,
external storage devices were correctly mounted and
even DVD playback behaved as expected – a very
sweet desktop experience!
QtFM settings are heaven for customisation. What
we liked most was the Custom Actions section. By
default there is a set of pre-defined actions related to
archives, but you can add your own actions too. That
said, it is very easy to bind certain commands to a
given file type without being a tech-savvy person.Version: 6.2.0 Web: https://github.
com/rodlie/qtfm8882March 0 h2rTinthTnyusBz March 2020 LXF260 87HOTPICKS
PERSONALCLOUDSERVICE
FILEMANAGER
It’s fast, feature-
rich and free
from undesired
dependencies. Get
yourself one!heabundanceofchoiceofopensourcefile
managerssometimesraisesthequestionof
whethereachandeveryapplicationreallyhas
areasontoexist.WhenwecameacrossQtFM,there’s
nodoubtthatthispowerfulapplicationwillsurely
satisfyitstargetaudience.QtFMislightweightand
powerfulatthesametime,itcombinesmanyadvanced
featuresofDolphinwhilelookingasminimalistas
Thunar.QtFMwillbeaveryusefuladditiontoa
custom-builtdesktopwithaminimalsetofexternal
dependencies.ApartfrombeinglighterthanDolphin,
italsodoesnotpulltheplethoraofKF5andPlasma
dependenciesthatyouwillsurelywanttoescapewhen
craftingaperfectandsmartQt-baseddesktop.
QtFMisequippedwithmanycommonfeatures,such
astabs,thumbnails,differentviewoptions,customfile
actions,system-trayintegrationandmore.Thefile
managerlayoutisverylogicalintermsofusingthe
screenspaceefficiently.Panelsforplacesandthe
directorytreeareontheleft,andtabsaredisplayed
belowthemainviewingarea.Thesearethedefaults,evicepairingisoftenassociatedwithBluetooth
connectivity,butthistermseemstobecoming
todesktopcomputingaswell.Bonsaiisthe
nameforanewcloud-likesharingservicedesignedto
besetupontheGnomedesktop.Theideaistosync
severalcomputersrunningtheGnomedesktopand
sharefiles,contacts,mail,photos,calendarsandsoon.
Bonsaiprovidesadaemonandasharedlibraryfor
settinguptheservice.Insomewaythisresemblesa
cloudservicewhereyourmainLinuxmachine(with
morefreediskspace)actslikeahost,whereasallother
membersconnecttoitandconsumesharedresources.
RightnowBonsaiisanearlyworkinprogress,sothe
onlythingalreadyimplementedisfilesharing.Soin
whatwayisitdifferentfromaconvenientfileand
directorysharingservice?Firstly,yourcloudresourceis
notsolely‘public’,itisavailableonlytopairedclients,
andit’syouwhodecideswhowillbegrantedordenied
theaccess.Secondly,ChristianHergert,theauthorand
coreBonsaideveloper,hasbigplansonsupportinglots
ofdesktopelementsinBonsai,notjustfiles.ThelistofNext-gen sharing
and collaboration
software is
a welcome
addition to the
Gnome desktop.D
T
Bonsai
future goals for libbonsai is to include things like
VPN connections, backup plans, to-do notes, videos,
media albums, etc. The fully fledged implementation
should provide teams with a warehouse of resources
to aid collaborative work.
It’s already possible to build and run Bonsai to see
how it goes. The code can be compiled swiftly using
Meson and Ninja, provided you have a bunch of
common Gnome build dependencies (like libgcrypt,
libgnutls, etc.). Run the bonsaid daemon in the
background and then allow access on the host:
$ bonsai-pair --allow-pairing
After that you can connect to it from another
machine using the following syntax:
$ bonsai-pair --pair-to <hostname>
A long way starts with a small step, and we expect
Bonsai will be growing more mature soon.Version: GIT Web: https://gitlab.
gnome.org/chergert/bonsaiQtFM
and once you select View > Layout > Unlock layout,
you will be able to rearrange everything to your liking.
We realised that QtFM is a third-party project and
it was never meant to be a stock file manager in any
DE, but surprisingly we didn’t encounter any serious
shortcomings even after few days of work. Archives
could be easily restored using the right-click menu,
images, videos and PDFs all showed correct previews,
external storage devices were correctly mounted and
even DVD playback behaved as expected – a very
sweet desktop experience!
QtFM settings are heaven for customisation. What
we liked most was the Custom Actions section. By
default there is a set of pre-defined actions related to
archives, but you can add your own actions too. That
said, it is very easy to bind certain commands to a
given file type without being a tech-savvy person.Version: 6.2.0 Web: https://github.
com/rodlie/qtfm