[svlug] About mc

[Marc MERLIN]

On Fri, Jan 18, 2002 at 11:23:13PM -0800, J C Lawrence wrote:
> Not quite.  While mc does have some keyboard rebinding as we went
> over the last time round, it doesn't support keyborad binding to the
> extent I want (rebinding alpha keys).  

True, just like vi, there are commands that you only get with
CTRL-X CTRL-key, and you can't change 'key' easily

On Fri, Jan 18, 2002 at 11:58:17PM -0800, J C Lawrence wrote:
> Loosely what I want is single pane, single directory view with the
> ability to interactively (in the move the cursor about and hit
> command keys sense) copy, move, rename, etc files with a very fast

which mc can all do, in a single pane if you wish.

> large file viewer that doesn't insist on loading them into memory.

Neither does mc's
I actually use mc's viewer to do binary in place edits, and they are done on
the right disk block without loading the file in memory.

> If the command keys are letter based (c=copy, d=delete, m-move,
> r=rename, etc I'm fine and configurability is not needed.  I don't

Different philosophy. With  mc, alphanum keys  go in the command  line since
you can build a command line at  all times (equivalent of the select command
line you  were talking about),  so obviously you can't  use c for  copy, you
have to use some other key.
But eh, you're fond of mc, regardless of technical attributes, so for you it
is going to be better.

> want to launch editors, run scripts, or handle spiffy regxes -- just
> text mode point, select, and shoot.  Not particularly interested in

mc does that.

> an internal command line.  Don't want help.  Copy destination can be

Well, you get both.

> typed in, or can be walked to and then copy invoked.  Can't think of
> any reason I'd be interested in ALT-TAB.

With  mc, you  can type  "cp", select  your files,  CTRL-X T,  and type  the
destination if you with (including tab completion)

> The emphasis is on speed and simplicity.  One of the things I really

Anyone who sees me use mc usually can't follow what I do :-)
It's all about knowing the tool.

On Sat, Jan 19, 2002 at 02:57:42AM -0800, Erik Steffl wrote:
> which offers better navigation (searching, marks etc)). I just tried to
> open 22MB file (kernel bz2) and it opened it in lot less then 1 second,
> so I am pretty sure it does not load the whole file into memory, at
> least not in the beginning.
 
It does not, you  can open /dev/sdax, and it'll load block  on demand, as it
should.

On Sat, Jan 19, 2002 at 01:36:32PM -0800, J C Lawrence wrote:
> The bindings I'd like would be something like:
> 
>   ENTER -- (on file) less, on directory CD
>   SPACE -- tag
>   C -- copy
>   D -- delete
>   M -- move
>   R -- rename (mv)
>   L -- hard link
>   Q -- quit
>   S -- sym-link
 
This is clearly incompatible with the command line feature in mc, which you
may not use, but that's not the point.
 
> I have use for a file manager no more than once or twice a month.

I can do complex  copies, moves and rename with mc faster  than you can type
them.

> > It is kinda arrogant from a program to not let you assign any
> > keybindings but IMO it's not serious usability problem.
> 
> I generally consider it critical.
 
I guess that's why you use emacs and not vi then :-)
I, for one, am  damn happy that vi users don't get to  remap all the keys to
anything they'd like, otherwise it'd be a complete mess.


On Sun, Jan 20, 2002 at 04:43:27PM -0800, J C Lawrence wrote:
> > in mc they are right in front of you. you don't have to learn
> > anything.
> 
> I find myself having to read the function key labels near every
> time.  I'd rather not, especially as they're abbreviated.
 
Tss, tss...
 
> Silly examples: The may MC handles cross-directory operations is the
> exact opposite of what I prefer.  mc requires the other pane to be
> on the target and the current pane to be the source.  Aaaargh!  That

That's how most  people seem to want  it, but if you really  want to, CTRL-U
will exchange both panes, but mc was  meant to emulate nc, so it does behave
the same as a result (only better)

> catches me almost every time.  The second confirm/edit/etc step
> under mc when doing a tagged file operation is something I've never
> wanted (or used) and would really like to never see.  

Well, then instead of complaining, you could go in the Options/Confirmation
menu, and disable them.

>   ObNote: I'd also much prefer it if mc left me in the directory it
>   was viewing when I exited, rather than the directory I started it
>   from.

Then it wasn't installed properly.
In Red Hat and Debian:
root at gandalf:~# type mc
mc is a function
mc () 
{ 
    MC=/tmp/mc$$-"$RANDOM";
    /usr/bin/mc -P "$@" >"$MC";
    cd "`cat $MC`";
    /bin/rm "$MC";
    unset MC
}

> Arguably that's little different from list.
> 
> > jojda:~>time mc
> 
>   $ time mc
>   real    0m0.469s
>   user    0m0.000s
>   sys     0m0.040s
 
On my system,
real    0m0.239s
user    0m0.050s
sys     0m0.020s

but who's counting?
Both are  plenty fast, and  quibbling about  sub second launch  time, coming
from an emacs user is middly ironic I think...

Marc
-- 
Microsoft is to operating systems & security ....
                                      .... what McDonalds is to gourmet cooking
  
Home page: http://marc.merlins.org/   |   Finger marc_f at merlins.org for PGP key