Replace Nautilus with Nautilus typeahead

[Forpli]

I'd like to bring up this feature request again, because I really miss it:

Nautilus should be replaced with Nautilus-Typeahead

People coming from other linux distributions and even Windows may find it very odd that when you type a character in the filemanager to search for a file, it actually starts searching recursively instead of highlighting the file directly. There was a big opposition to this when Gnome decided to remove the typeahead functionality and make search as the only option. I think this should not be the case with Zorin. The type-to-seek functionality is very useful and faster than Gnome's default search…

Navigating to a file or folder by typing its name quickly

Situation: When we are in a directory in the standard file explorer app Files on Zorin OS, and we start typing the characters for the name of a file or folder in the open directory: Expectation: I want the cursor or the selected item in the open explorer page to navigate to the file or folder name that is matching the entered characters. Actual: Instead, upon typing a character, it goes to "Search" or "Find" mode at the top of the Files explorer. And shows search results for items matching …

You can restore this feature which Windows Explorer offers but was removed from Nautilus many years ago by adding an external Launchpad PPA. However, since adding third-party sources poses a risk, especially for such a core application, I would appreciate if Zorin itself had integrated such a patch into Nautilus and cares for the build and update of the Nautilus package.

Since this feature can be turned on or off in the Nautilus settings, it does not affect Nautilus's current functionality for users who prefer the search as it is.

Here you find a discussion on gitlab about this topic with additional informations:

Files: type ahead (#142) · Issues · Teams / Design / Whiteboards · GitLab

The only file manager that can be installed using the existing Zorin and Ubuntu repositories and offers the same functionality, is Dolphin. However, as a Qt app running in gnome, it feels out of place. Thunar, Nemo and Caja have a 3-second timer that slows down navigation when there are many folders starting with the same letter and you try to use the arrow keys.

[sglbl]

Implement type-ahead find for efficient file system navigation (#244) · Issues...

As you can see here, even with 100 upvotes, GNOME devs just closed the issue without caring about user experience.

[Forpli]

It would be a great opportunity for Zorin if they offered that, especially since Zorin is aimed at users switching from Windows.

We shouldn't expect any changes from gnome in this regard in the near future. But I'm not giving up hope yet that the Zorin Group will integrate this feature into Zorin.

[Nourpon]

If they still follow Ubuntu LTS, I doubt they touch to nautilus, what they can do is to leave nautilus in the background doing what he have to do (launch htop and you will see sometimes a nautilus process, it is attached to Gnome), and use another file manager, a Zorin file manager

[AidanJast]

An optional typeahead mode would make sense. Selecting a known name in the current folder is different from finding something buried in subfolders, where recursive search is useful. Keeping both behaviors available would preserve search for people who rely on it.

A Zorin-maintained patch would need testing and rebasing against Nautilus updates throughout the supported release. A separate file manager would also bring integration and maintenance costs. A clearly exposed choice upstream would be the most sustainable solution.