ranger (file manager)

ranger
Developer(s) Roman Zimbelmann[1]
Initial release June 9, 2010[1]
Stable release 1.7.0 / April 13, 2015
Development status Active
Written in Python
Operating system Linux
FreeBSD
OS X
Size 165 KB (tar.gz source)[2]
Available in English only[3]
Type File manager
License GNU GPLv3[4]
Website nongnu.org/ranger/

ranger is a free text-based file manager for Unix-like systems. It is developed by Roman Zimbelmann and licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. The program can accomplish file management tasks with a few keystrokes, and mouse input is optional. In conjunction with extensions including the rifle file opener and scope.sh, ranger can be scripted to open files with pre-defined programs, and to display a preview of the selected file by calling external programs.[5]

Features[6]

Design

ranger is written in Python and the text-based interface uses ncurses.[7][8] The program makes use of the Miller columns visualization technique to display folder structures in three columns, whose default width ratios are 1:2:3. The currently active folder is always displayed in the central column, while folders higher up in the hierarchy are on the left. The rightmost column is used for displaying deeper folders and file previews.[4][9]

Configuration

ranger borrows its keybindings from vi where possible, but also accepts mouse buttons and shares a few keybindings with GNU Readline and Midnight Commander. All configurable keybindings are defined in the ranger/config/rc.conf configuration file, which is located in $HOME/.configs/ by default.[10]

Comparison with other file managers

Due to its use of the Miller columns layout, ranger has been compared to Finder,[11][12] the default file manager used on Mac OS and OS X operating systems. It has also been suggested as a viable alternative to users accustomed to Directory Opus.[13][14] ranger shares similarities with other text-based file managers including Midnight Commander, from which it borrowed its function key keyboard shortcuts, and with vifm, which also borrows features from vi and Mutt. In addition, most core utilities related to file management (cd, ls, rm, mv, ln, touch, etc) are available from within ranger's distinct command language layer.[15]

Reception

A 2012 survey among Arch Linux users found that ranger was the most used text-based file manager among respondents, surpassing Midnight Commander, the second most widely used text-based file manager, by a factor of two and a half (20% to 8%).[16] ranger also received 0.9% of votes in the "Best File Manager" category in a 2013 survey by Linux Journal.[17] LinuxLinks named it one of the "10 Best Orthodox Free Linux File Managers", and one of its "5 Top Console Linux File Managers".[18][19] It is often cited in magazine articles and software blogs for power users as an illustration of the power and versatility of the command line interface.[20]

ranger can be compiled from the source code, or installed from pre-built binary packages on Arch Linux, Slackware, Debian, Gentoo Linux, FreeBSD,[21] OpenBSD and Ubuntu.[22] It is also available on OS X through the Homebrew package manager.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Description". ranger - file manager. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Download". ranger - file manager. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ranger: le file-manager en python" (PDF). arpinux.org (in French). Retrieved 5 July 2014. [...] le seul défaut de ranger serait qu'il est anglophone…
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "ranger - visual file manager". ranger(1) manpage. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Kemp, Juliet (16 August 2010). "Ranger: Console-Based File Management". ServerWatch. IT Business. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  6. ↑ http://nongnu.org/ranger/
  7. ↑ Bezroukov, Dr. Nikolai. "History of Scripting Language based OFMs". Softpanorama. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  8. ↑ 黑日白月 (4 October 2010). "Ranger: 控制台下的文件管理器". LinuxTOY (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  9. ↑ Arora, Himanshu (5 September 2013). "Ranger – A Text Based File Manager For Command Line Users". MyLinuxBook. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Vogelgesang, Matthias (17 October 2012). "Ranger File Manager". Bloerg. Retrieved 18 June 2014. the first thing you will notice is a window layout similar to MacOS’ finder
  11. ↑ Mottram, Jack (30 April 2010). "Ranger". One Thing Well. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  12. ↑ Hartnell, Brian (March 2012). "Directory Opus" (PDF). Full Circle Magazine (in French) (59): 42. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  13. ↑ Beckers, Ludo (April 2012). "Directory Opus" (PDF). Full Circle Magazine (in French) (60): 43. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Bezroukov, Dr. Nikolai (November 2012). "OFM2012 -- Cutting Edge Features of Orthodox File Managers". Softpanorama. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "LnF Awards 2012 - The best Light & Fast apps of 2012". bbs.archlinux.org. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  16. ↑ Shawn Powers (December 2013). "Readers' Choice Awards 2013". Linux Journal (236): 79. Retrieved 17 June 2014. (subscription required (help)).
  17. ↑ 陈皓 (11 July 2012). "28个Unix/Linux的命令行神器". Chinese Software Developer Network (CSDN) (in Chinese). Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  18. ↑ 陈, 三 (15 September 2012). "Ranger 文件管理器". zfanw.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  19. ↑ Ellingwood, Justin (13 June 2014). "Installing and Using Ranger, a Terminal File Manager, on a Ubuntu VPS". DigitalOcean. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "Package listing". Braumeister. Retrieved 18 June 2014.

External links