<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Strict//EN"> <HTML LANG="en"> <HEAD> <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="Emil Brink, emil@obsession.se, 27-Aug-1998"> <META NAME="Design and HTML" CONTENT="Ulf Pettersson, ulf@obsession.se, 29-Sep-1998"> <META NAME="Copyright" CONTENT="May be redistributed and changed according to the GNU General Public License. See gpl.html" LANG="en"> <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="gentoo, Obsession, Emil Brink, filemanager, GTK+, Linux, file management, graphical configurability, Ulf Pettersson, Johan Hanson, files, copying, Obsession Development, " LANG="en"> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="gentoo Documentation and User Manual. gentoo is a highly configurable graphical filemanager for Linux and other Unix-operating systems." LANG="en"> <META NAME="Resource-Type" CONTENT="document"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html, charset=iso-8859-1"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css"> <LINK REL="Toc" HREF="index.html"> <LINK REL="Next" HREF="usage.html"> <LINK REL="Previous" HREF="quick.html"> <LINK REL="Stylesheet" HREF="gentoo.css" TYPE="text/css"> <TITLE>gentoo Documentation: Introduction</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#33EE33" VLINK="#EF8210" ALINK="#FFFF00"> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD HEIGHT="90" VALIGN="Middle"><A HREF="index.html"><IMG SRC="images/gentoo_logo_g.gif" WIDTH="50" HEIGHT="50" ALT="Back to Table of Contents" VSPACE="8" HSPACE="32" BORDER="0"></A><IMG SRC="images/gentoo_logo_text.gif" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="55" ALT="gentoo - A Click-Ass Filemanager" BORDER="0"></TD> <TD ALIGN="CENTER"> </TD> <TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="Middle"> <A HREF="http://www.obsession.se/"><IMG SRC="images/od__logo_small.gif" WIDTH="64" HEIGHT="61" HSPACE="32" ALT="Go to Obsession Developments Homepage" BORDER="0"></A> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE WIDTH="100%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=2 BORDER=0 STYLE="background: #000000; text-align: center;"> <TR> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <A HREF="gpl.html" TITLE="License - How to distribute this software">LICENSE</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <A HREF="relnotes.html" TITLE="Release Notes - Notes regarding this release">NOTES</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <A HREF="quick.html" TITLE="Quick Guide - A quick guide to the basic concepts of gentoo">GUIDE</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Section"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <A HREF="intro.html" TITLE="Introduction - Why another filemanager?, The features and goals of gentoo ">INTRO</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <A HREF="usage.html" TITLE="Usage - How to use gentoo">USAGE</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><A HREF="config/index.html" TITLE="Configuration - How to configure gentoo">CONFIG</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><A HREF="history.html" TITLE="History - History of changes between versions">HISTORY</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><A HREF="contribute.html" TITLE="Contribute - Help making gentoo a better filemanager">CONTRIBUTING</A></SMALL></TD> <TD CLASS="Select"><SMALL STYLE="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><A HREF="acks.html" TITLE="Acknowledgements - Who made gentoo?, Thanks">ACKS</A> </SMALL></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BR> <H1>Introduction</H1> <IMG SRC="images/tone.gif" WIDTH=175 HEIGHT=18 BORDER="0"> <H2>Why Another Filemanager?</H2> <P> 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? </P> <P> Well... I guess I <EM>wanted</EM> to write a file manager. Sure, I've seen the discussions on <A HREF="http://www.slashdot.org/"> slashdot</A> 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. </P> <P> 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". </P> <P> If you don't like this program, don't use it. If you don't understand that, seek help. </P> <H2>Design Goals</H2> <P> It would be a lie to say that <STRONG>gentoo</STRONG> 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 <STRONG>gentoo</STRONG> is the result. However, while writing it, some core ideas surfaced and (IMHO) managed to make into the code: <UL> <LI>A clean graphical interface. GTK+ provides that.</LI> <LI>A basic single-window, two-pane model, since I find it optimal.</LI> <LI>Full GUI configuration, no need to hack config files by hand.</LI> <LI>File typing and -styling, allowing user to configure the look of files.</LI> <LI>Provide basic file operations as built-in primitives; avoid depending on external commands.</LI> </UL> </P> <H2>Cool Features</H2> <P> These are some of the features I find make <STRONG>gentoo</STRONG> an interesting program, even considering the competition: <UL> <LI>Single-window split into two panes.</LI> <LI>Fairly small (executable is <250KB, when stripped).</LI> <LI>Looks and feels modern, much thanks to the GTK+ interface.</LI> <LI>... more to come...</LI> </UL> </P> </BODY> </HTML>
