
The History of Development of Norton Commander (2010) - quijoteuniv
http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/norton_commander.shtml
======
stiray
I am still using total commander which has proven as by far best gui
replacement while I have never found any text based even close (any suggestion
is welcome but mc is not it) as far it goes regarding tc tooling and
integration of plugins. Or search (and replace) for files etc. I never really
understood why something like explorer copies are used on all systems.

Anyway if someone wants to try,
[https://www.ghisler.com/](https://www.ghisler.com/) while here are 3rd party
plugins: [https://totalcmd.net/](https://totalcmd.net/) There is more than
meets the first glance and one huge benefit is that you dont need to use
mouse. At all.

~~~
cryo
I'm currently developing another file manager for macOS, Windows and Linux
named 'cryo' which also has a dual-pane mode.

It's not yet as future rich as other commanders but hopefully will be in the
upcoming months.

[https://cryonet.io](https://cryonet.io)

~~~
stiray
A suggestion, study very closely how plugins in TC work and even more on which
places: like file system plugin also working in search dialog. Implement
support for TC plugins, you will gain enormous ecosystem for almost free.

Check its viewer and find in files options (utf8+utf16+regex+office files and
then combining everything with git plugin (or one of other plugins) where
commit comment contains something not matching to another regexp. And on top
of everything it is very simple to make it happen).

Do study TC, it is by far the most complete file manager on any system, in any
time and extremely well thought of. There is just nothing that compares beyond
"I have two pane file manager".

It is visually outdated and it doesn't run on all platforms but it is really
really hard to beat in features (like rename all *.cpp in all directories and
subdirectories to #filename#-#dateofcreation#-#gitrevision#-#gitbranch#.cpp or
use parts of exif header to rename file). I would love to have multiplatform
alternative (as I have dumped the windows due to w8 and w10 abominations) for
TC but I just dont see how this could be achived without really, REALLY huge
engineering effort.

You might figure out that it is not worth competing against it for its licence
price of 37 euros (27 for students) and "shareware" version without
limitations except nag screen.

------
dang
Edit: URL changed from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander).

This is probably too well-known a topic to justify a generic Wikipedia link.
There are better articles available - for example,
[http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/norton_command...](http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/norton_commander.shtml),
which can be found either by web search or HN search. Perhaps we'll swap that
URL in.

This issue with Wikipedia submissions has been coming up a lot lately. Recent
explanations:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249978](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23249978)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23239405](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23239405)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22990237](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22990237)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23117614](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23117614)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23089041](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23089041)

------
graycrow
There also was Volkov Commander (VC) - a faster and smaller clone of NC. [1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkov_Commander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkov_Commander)

~~~
SomeoneFromCA
There is also Dos Navigator, a slower and bigger clone of NC.

------
klaustopher
I was always a fan of XTree[1], was always more intuitive to me than norton
commander.

Still have the shortcuts in muscle memory `xtg` for the win

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XTree](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XTree)

~~~
ghaff
I liked Xtree. I actually had my own DOS file manager (Directory Freedom) but
that was deliberately kept very small and fast. I liked Xtree for when I
wanted to look at or work with the whole directory structure.

------
dusted
I never used NC much, but I recall a friend of mine having a DOS PC that
booted into it.. When I first ventured into linux, I was not good with the
command line, and was very pleased to find MC, it helped me a lot until I got
the hang of the CLI.

------
xiphias2
FAR manager is still a nice way to manage files in a 2-pane mode on Windows

~~~
Andrew_nenakhov
Left windows years ago and not looking back, and FAR manager is the only
software I miss on Ubuntu. midnight commander doesn't even come close,
unfortunately.

~~~
valeg
There is a port of sorts:
[https://github.com/elfmz/far2l](https://github.com/elfmz/far2l) Still an
early stage but nonetheless.

------
graycrow
I have stopped using Windows, but the only software that I miss is a modern NC
clone called Far Manager [1].

[1] [https://www.farmanager.com/](https://www.farmanager.com/)

~~~
LeoPanthera
Have you tried Midnight Commander?

~~~
graycrow
Of course, but MC is (to put it lightly) not feature complete :) Ended by
using MC, far2l (Far Manager 2 Linux clone) and Far Manager 3 under Wine
depending on a task, but nothing can compare to native Far on Windows.

------
LeoPanthera
Norton Commander is to DOS as Directory Opus is to the Amiga.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_Opus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directory_Opus)

~~~
danielbarla
I noted with some interest (now about 20 years ago) that Directory Opus had
gotten a Windows version. It still seems to be alive and kicking, which is
good to see!

------
AdrianB1
Norton Commander was in the autoexec.bat of virtually every computer I saw
between ~1992 and 1998. Dos Navigator replaced it for a while, then Windows
Commander, later renamed to Total Commander. I still have Total Commander
pinned to the taskbar of every computer I use, I bought a few dozen licenses
back in ~ 2008-2009.

In ~ 1994 I wrote a limited feature clone of NC in FoxPro just to show some
colleagues in college that it can be done fast and easy. It motivated them to
learn FoxPro and a few become developers using it for the next 5-10 years.

~~~
DominikD
Dos Navigator was such a great productivity tool! Guys who made it (Ritlabs)
went on to develop TheBat! email client which was also pretty amazing.

------
kasperni
Sweet memories... [1] is a great walk down memory lane.

[1]
[http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/norton_command...](http://www.softpanorama.org/OFM/Paradigm/Ch03/norton_commander.shtml)

------
begoon
Nimble Commmader ([https://github.com/mikekazakov/nimble-
commander](https://github.com/mikekazakov/nimble-commander)) is the real deal
for dual panel managers fanboys with macs.

------
atemerev
I still use Midnight Commander on the daily basis. It is immensely useful for
e.g. exploring a large codebase. I don’t know why it is frowned upon by many
people.

~~~
azalemeth
Meant genuinely and with 0% troll: why? What does it get you that ls (-ltr and
optionally |less) doesn't? I know that some people _love_ mc and I've
never...got it. I've never really asked them in great detail.

What are the 'killer features' of MC over the more "usual" *nix tools of
find/grep/ls/awk/sed/vim? I'd love to know if I'm missing a trick!

~~~
blackfawn
What I like most about MC is oddly off by default. Under "Options" > "Panel
options" there is an option under "Navigation" for "Lynx-like motion". Once
this is on, you can navigate in/out of directory structures with the left and
right arrows on your keyboard. It makes it super quick and easy to move around
a file system without a bunch of successive cd/ls/etc commands (or other
tools)

------
askariwa
I remember Volkov Commander too. From Wikipedia :"Volkov Commander (VC) is a
file manager for DOS inspired by the Norton Commander. Volkov Commander is
purely written in assembly language, and is thus very small (less than 100 KB)
and fast". It was really fast and really small when we had the 1.4 mb floppy
disk back then.

------
_ZeD_
Still using Total commander on my android phone

~~~
mbeex
IMO, this port is subpar. Ghislers original is "the best thing since sliced
bread", I'm using it for more than ~20 years and it is the first software I
have on USB flash drive or install (copy) to a new Windows machine. But the
mobile version never clicked for me. I'm using X-plore on Android for ~2 years
now and I'm quite happy with it. It is also the only app I could find, that
supports Windows shares in a rather hassle-free way.

------
ExpiredLink
On Windows FreeCommander is a good free Commander.
[https://freecommander.com](https://freecommander.com)

------
quijoteuniv
I remembered about Norton Commander today when I opened a second window of
"Files" in Ubuntu to do some tidy up and moving around of files.

~~~
soapdog
Why not use midnight commander on ubuntu?

~~~
extro
mc is disgusting.

~~~
fb03
Care to elaborate on that? I use it for navigating quickly and i'm just a C-o
away from the unbridled shell. I find it very useful.

Also, do you have another command line mc alternative to suggest? I'm always
open to try new tools.

~~~
Andrew_nenakhov
It fails to do the 'just works' magic. Selecting files, moving them from place
to place is always weirdly unpleasant.

------
AndrewDucker
I know someone who still uses ZTreeWin (a clone, for Windows) all the time. It
looks incredibly quick, with lots of useful shortcuts.

------
JeanMarcS
Norton Commander is the reason I still use Midnight Commander on my servers !

My fingers know all the key shortcuts for decades now

------
stephankoelle
Some people might not be aware that dolphin is pretty good split window file
manager.

~~~
mbeex
I have to agree. As a heavy user of Total Commander and fighting the Krusader
as well as Double Commander clones for some time, I switched to Dolphin after
setting up a KDE-based Linux distribution. Its been years, since I did it the
last time and I was quite reluctant. But it worked out much better than I
thought in the beginning.

------
hestefisk
I started my computing career as a 5 yo in Norton Commander on a 8088 Intel
machine.

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empressplay
Pre-Windows 95 every PC I owned or configured booted into this.

------
sydd
ahh the only useful product Norton ever released :)

~~~
uvatbc
Norton editor was another masterpiece.

Pre acquisition Norton products were amazing.

------
dt3ft
Darn. I loved NC.

------
KingOfCoders
LOVED it.

------
dang
Url changed from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander),
which points to this.

