gentoo Documentation: Introduction
Author: Emil Brink, emil@obsession.se, 27-Aug-1998
Description: gentoo Documentation and User Manual. gentoo is a highly configurable graphical filemanager for Linux and other Unix-operating systems.
Keywords: gentoo, Obsession, Emil Brink, filemanager, GTK+, Linux, file management, graphical configurability, Ulf Pettersson, Johan Hanson, files, copying, Obsession Development,

LICENSE | GUIDE | INTRO | USAGE | CONFIG | HISTORY | CONTRIBUTING | ACKS

# Introduction

## Why Another Filemanager?

Yeah, who am I to think I have the right to write yet another bloody filemanager? Haven't I checked the archives already for the heaps of proven alternatives? Why add yet another never-to-be-finished GPL project to the world? Don't I feel any kind of responsibility at all?

Well... I guess I wanted to write a file manager. Sure, I've seen the discussions on slashdot about the "problems" with Linux software; everyone writes file managers and IRC clients, and noone writes "useful productivity applications" like word processors, spread sheets, and data base apps. Someone (no names) even went so far as to suggest that the next person to release an IRC client should be shot! I dare not think about how that person feels toward people like me, who spend their time reinventing the file manager.

Still, this is free software. I wrote it because I wanted to learn the GTK+ toolkit, and also because I wanted a nice, GUI-configurable file manager. I know there are hundreds of file managers already, but of those I've checked out, none felt "right" for me. So I wrote my own, and then decided to share it with the community. I believe that to still be my right, and if you seriously think otherwise, I suggest you reconsider the meaning of the word "free".

If you don't like this program, don't use it. If you don't understand that, seek help.

## Design Goals

It would be a lie to say that gentoo was designed with any specific goals in mind. I wanted to learn the GTK+ toolkit, and I have always wanted a file manager that somewhat resembled the Amiga classic "Directory Opus" under Linux. So I started hacking, and gentoo is the result. However, while writing it, some core ideas surfaced and (IMHO) managed to make into the code:

- A clean graphical interface. GTK+ provides that.
- A basic single-window, two-pane model, since I find it optimal.
- Full GUI configuration, no need to hack config files by hand.
- File typing and -styling, allowing user to configure the look of files.
- Provide basic file operations as built-in primitives; avoid depending on external commands.

## Cool Features

These are some of the features I find make gentoo an interesting program, even considering the competition:

- Single-window split into two panes.
- Fairly small (executable is <250KB, when stripped).
- Looks and feels modern, much thanks to the GTK+ interface.
- ... more to come...