# Introduction

## Package description

&krusader; is a simple, easy, powerful, twin-panel file manager (commander-style) for &kde; and other *nix desktops, similar to Midnight Commander or Total Commander. It provides all the file management features you could possibly want.

Krusader also includes extensive archive handling, mounted file system support, &FTP;, advanced search module, viewer/editor, directory synchronization, file content comparisons, powerful batch renaming and much, much more. &krusader; supports archive formats: ace, arj, bzip2, deb, gzip, iso, lha, rar, rpm, tar, zip and 7-zip and handles other KIO Slaves such as smb:// or fish://.

&krusader; is almost completely customizable and therefore very user-friendly.

Try &krusader;.

### &krusader; screenshot

&krusader; screen shot

More &krusader; Screenshots can be viewed on our website.

## Welcome to &krusader;!

Our aim is to give you a simple, intuitive tool that easily handles the most important tasks you perform on your computer each and every day: manage and process your files the way you want.

Whether you are a &Linux; expert or a novice, &krusader; makes routine file management tasks quick and accurate, allowing you to focus on the big picture, not command line syntax. This is especially helpful if you are new to xxNIX operating systems. To do just that, &krusader; uses a good-looking &GUI; and supports drag and drop as well as mime types, making it easy to use.

&krusader; has many useful features. It is fast, and handles archives transparently. In addition, &krusader; streamlines many complex file management tasks, reducing fatigue, errors, and distraction. Basically, &krusader; provides all the helpful features you have come to expect from other quality file management tools like Midnight Commander and Total Commander. &krusader; is designed to integrate seamlessly with the &kde; Desktop, the desktop of choice for many programmers, network engineers, and other power users of &Linux;. With &krusader; even novice users can quickly access the power, convenience, and feature rich capabilities of the &kde; Desktop. &krusader; is a free open-source project, and it is released under the &GNU; General Public License (GPL), although the developers still retain the copyright for the project and its name, and manage the project's continuing evolution.

The &krusader; Project mission is to create an "all-in-one" file manager, which will do all the ordinary things you would expect of it, and more. Since the principle behind &krusader; is based on the Orthodox File Manager (OFM), dual-pane filemanagers (Midnight Commander, Norton Commander, &etc;), it is certain that &krusader; is able to handle all the standard Copy, Move, Delete, &etc; file operations.

From the start, virtual file systems became the main focus. Virtual file systems (VFS) are an abstracted layer over all kinds of archived information (ZIP files, &FTP; servers, TAR archives, NFS filesystems, SAMBA shares, ISO cd/dvd images, RPM catalogs, &etc;), which allow the user to access all the information in these divergent types of file systems transparently - just like entering an ordinary sub-directory. Files can then be copied or moved around (except ISO, rpm, tar.gz) between these data sources/containers effortlessly. &krusader; currently supports VFSs for all popular and some specialized types of archives (ace, arj, bzip2, gzip, iso, lha, rar, tar, zip and 7-zip), configuration packages (rpm, deb), and traditional remote file system types (&FTP;, NFS, Samba, FISH, SFTP).

&krusader; also includes a built-in Mount-Manager MountMan, which enables you to mount or unmount file systems of all types with a click of a mouse. The user is able to obtain usage and other property information easily, in a consistent and understandable format in seconds. Ease and consistency is the goal.

A Bookmark-Manager for local files/remote &URL;s and an Advanced Search module is also included to speed the locating of needed files. &krusader; also allows the user to configure Toolbars in order to provide a wide variety of additional functionality, such as File Comparison (several user selectable methods available), Multiple File Rename, and standard Terminal windows.

Advanced users benefit greatly from being able to carry out clerical tasks effortlessly, without distraction from the real task at hand. Convenient shortcut keys enable the user to navigate directory trees with ease, create multiple tabbed directory views simultaneously, and access fully functional history lists. Due to efficient programming and low system overhead, &krusader; is perhaps the most responsive all around system management tool used to access the full potential of a computer using &kde;, or any other standards compliant X Windows window manager. Although designed specifically for, and tightly integrated with, &kde;; &krusader; works equally well with Gnome, Enlightenment, WindowMaker, IceWM, BlackBox, Wiamea, XFCE, &etc; as soon as the KDE libraries are installed.

New extensibility is provided by the flexible UserActions, a &krusader; innovation that allows unlimited additional custom functionality to be added to suit the specific needs of users. We are planning to develop more modules in the near future, thereby enhancing &krusader;. Information on what is proposed, approved, or remains to be completed can be found in the ToDo Forum.

No other program we know of, offers so many useful, easily accessible features in such an intuitive and simple format. Best of all, we listen, and implement good suggestions that are consonant with the &krusader; Project's goal: making &krusader; the very best File Manager available.

We hope you'll enjoy it - we do!