Changing Nautilus to something else

[Karl]

Mmm, I spoke too soon. When I changed to Nemo using these two commands, I noticed I can no longer paste a file to the Desktop - the paste option is ghosted out.

I tried switching to Thunar with this:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons false
xdg-mime default thunar.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search

But it was the same thing.

So I reset it with this:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true
xdg-mime default nautilus.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search

And the paste option reappeared for the desktop.

I use copy/cut and paste a lot, and the Desktop is my main workspace, so maybe I'll have to stick to Nautilus for now. It's another reason why I may need to switch to xfce, since the file manager is obviously tightly integrated and has all sorts of unintended effects (right click menus, open/save/save as, paste to Desktop) which seem to get broken by tweaking them. I think most of the issues I have are related to the file manager and how it deals with files and folders, so I may benefit a lot from being able to change to one that doesn't use Nautilus at all.

[Karl]

@swarfendor437

In respect of Dolphin that is what KDE Plasma uses so no wonder it did not work for you in the Gnome Environment.

Ah, so in a way I should avoid Thunar on Gnome as well, because Thunar is built for XFCE, not Gnome? But Nemo should be fine?

[Aravisian]

@Karl

And the paste option reappeared for the desktop.

This is odd...
I am using Core with Nemo and XFCE installed, and the paste option on right-click on the Desktop is present and functions. I just tested it.

[Karl]

I tried it all again - paste was there with Nautilus, rebooted, same, changed to Nemo, paste was gone, rebooted, still no paste option. Here's a screenshot I took just now after copying a txt file into the clipboard.

Not to worry, I can either live with Nautilus for now, or live with no paste option on the desktop. Hopefully I won't have these issues on the xfce desktop.

This is the kind of thing that left me wondering whether some of my issues weren't underpinned by some common cause, such as ownership or permissions, or having a drive set up wrongly, which in turn led me to be more worrisome and more for people to have to put up with as I flapped around.

[Aravisian]

@Karl

This is the kind of thing that left me wondering whether some of my issues weren't underpinned by some common cause, such as ownership or permissions, or having a drive set up wrongly, which in turn led me to be more worrisome and more for people to have to put up with as I flapped around.

No. I am using XFCE desktop, so that is the likeliest explanation.

[Karl]

Interesting, it turns out it's not just paste to desktop, but the other way too. So if I drag a file to the desktop and it moves it, I can't copy and paste a version back to the source - paste is ghosted out on the source location too. I can get round it by making a copy of the file in the source location, then moving the copy of the file to the desktop. Or I may just go back to Nautilus and put up with the unwanted folders and wait for the new xfce edition of Zorin!

Update - just discovered that changing to Nemo also removes the Desktop option when I have to Save or Open a file (which then uses Nautilus):

[swarfendor437]

No Thunar will work just as well in the Gnome Environment (well it used to when I was running Zorin 15). Whatever you do do not attempt to remove Nautilus as it will break your system entirely - thanks but no thanks to those clueless intelligentsia of the Gnome project!

[swarfendor437]

There is something else to consider too - the extremely powerful Midnight Commander:

I first came across this whilst using my ... Amiga 1500!
Its in Software!

[finston]

Nemo for sure. Nautilus seems well outclassed by it

[Aravisian]

@Karl

Update - just discovered that changing to Nemo also removes the Desktop option when I have to Save or Open a file (which then uses Nautilus):

This option is also present on mine. The only conclusion that logically follows is that on Zorin Core with Gnome, it will not let anything other than Nautilus manage the desktop. Gnome also removed desktop icons. Gnome has a serious aversion to users using the desktop as a directory or launchpoint and has decided, like Microsoft, to control the user.
On XFCE desktop, I do not have this problem. On mine, using Nemo, the option to save to desktop is present.

[TSilver]

Also can't paste anything directly to desktop. At first i thought it was any other drive. Paste works if i select desktop in the sidebar of the explorer. But no directly to desktop if you know what i mean. Can't copy and paste to other internal drives

All was working fine previously.

[Rui07]

After reading, I guess because the OP change the file manager but not the DE. Before, I read somewhere that these things have like, there are file managers and windows manager that cannot be installed without the desktop environment that they should be part of. This is what I try before using AntiX and along the way I just end up messing the system. hahahah.

[Aravisian]

It is not necessary to use the D.E. a file manager is associated with. Normally.
But in Karls case, he has some very stringent requirements for what he wants each to do and how he wants them to behave.
And... he is using them on Gnome which is very strict as to what it will allow the user to do.
Between both... he's having some trouble getting his D.E. to behave.

But you can use Thunar or Nemo interchangeably across Mate, Cinnamon, XFCE, LXDE etc without any of these troubles.

[Karl]

My last Amiga was a 1200. I remember being surprised at the time about how much better it seemed than PCs and Windows.

But it looks like Gnome won't let us change the file manager without it causing other problems, such as removing the paste option for me.

[Karl]

Thanks, that reconfirms that I'll probably be happier with Zorin xfce once that's available. Until then I'll put up with Nautilus, since every attempt to customise it (remove unwanted folders) or replace it has caused other, bigger problems (loss of New Document dialogue, loss of paste option).

[swarfendor437]

First off before tinkering install Timeshift. See my post here:

Post upgrade 3rd party driver issue - Skipping BTF generation for ... due to unavailability of vmlinux?

This tip might also help you from getting newer kernels installed in the future: I know the kernel numbers are different but the advice at the bottom with zero votes solved the issue for the OP. To cover yourself you should also install Timeshift and use your /home directory for storing system snapshots. Get it from here: Guidance on how to use:

Then at the terminal enter:

sudo apt-get install xfce4

Obviously answer with Y to install. After install run

sudo apt-get update

Then restart your machine - go to the cog bottom right of login and select xfce.

Keep us posted!

Just attempting myself - you get option to change display manager - I have kept it at GDM3.

[swarfendor437]

Hi Karl, glad to see another Amiga user - I still have my Amiga 1500 with 1 Gb SCSI Hard Drive on an Oktagon 2008 SCSI controller with 2 Mb ZIP RAM!
I always got peeved that mainstream computer named it a toy - it was so good that Commodore did not officially support it at a computer fair because it was superior to their C64 at the time of its release. It was one of the first devices to have a WIMP DE from the get-go Windows Icons Menus Pointer and it came with its own cursor creation tool!

[Karl]

I used to love the tweaks that came on magazine coverdisks, replacing the cursor with different designs. Also that did things such as made a window with eyes in it that follower the pointer, or made the screen melt.

I still play Spectrum, C64 and Amiga games via emulator. (Well, I did in Windows, a later thing will be to test which run via Wine etc, or which have replacement Linux versions). I just love replaying old games. It seems funny that I have this new PC with an RTX 3060 Ti, yet the main game I am playing is a mod for UFO Enemy Unknown (called X-COM Files; it's as good as X-Pirates, both of which swallowed up more than a year without me getting bored of them, supplanting HOMM2 and 3 as my favourite games). I also have a Pi-based full size arcade machine in my office, emulating via MAME. I love some 2-player Bubble Bobble, Streetfighter 2 or Mortal Kombat.

[swarfendor437]

Well I did it (but no sound as sadly xfce has been garnered into using the inferior Pulse Audio so I will stay clear for moi!

I had to remove the browser icon in the panel at the bottom as it was expecting Firefox which I have removed! Replaced it with FlashPeak Slimjet.
Will experiment with QAS mix to see if I can get sound!

[Karl]

Thanks, I may have a go at XFCE, though I'm also happy to wait for the official Zorin 16 version.

I never used system snapshots in Windows (well, I did about 10 years ago!), and am not sure about it in Linux, just because of the way I use my PC. I usually prefer to do a fresh install of an OS and my key software and settings (meaning I can also change to newer versions if necessary). I used to find that took me a couple of hours every second year, so I favoured that over the idea of snapshots. At least in Windows, I found if I had to roll back to a previous one on someone's PC when I was doing tech support, it was because of issues that left it still in a less stable state, which was better fixed by a fresh OS install. Moving to Linux, I am hoping the base OS is even more stable than Windows.