Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

David Gerard · 2016-04-30 15:40:09

Just installed Xubuntu 16.04. I installed Nautilus, which is 3.14.3. I want to set it to default to list view, not icon view (to save clicking the list button every single time).

If you're running GNOME 3, this is easy! You click on the "application button" at top-left, e.g. https://developer.gnome.org/gtk3/stable … -app10.png

If you're running Xubuntu 16.04, this button doesn't exist ...

Is there any way to get Nautilus preferences up? Is there any way to alter Nautilus settings in a way that sticks? Even by editing a config file. (I see directory ~/.config/nautilus/ but have no idea what to put into it.)

Last edited by David Gerard (2016-04-30 15:41:48)

ToZ · 2016-04-30 16:44:23

Nautilus (and gnome) use dconf to store its configuration settings. You can access (add, change, delete) these settings outside of a gnome environment by either using a gui tool like dconf-editor (apt-get install dconf-tools) or via the gsettings command:

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.preferences default-folder-viewer 'list-view'

David Gerard · 2016-04-30 17:11:10

Perfect, thank you so much!

Do you know if there is there a list of these anywhere? Or indeed for other GNOME apps that Xfce can use? Could be a useful list to have ...

ToZ · 2016-04-30 19:43:49

David Gerard wrote:

Do you know if there is there a list of these anywhere? Or indeed for other GNOME apps that Xfce can use? Could be a useful list to have ...

Might be better to ask this in a gnome-related forum, but if you fire up dconf-editor (from the dconf-tools package), you will be able to visually see and configure these settings. As for a list of all available settings, they should be included in a schema file in the package. In ubuntu for nautilus, have a look at /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.gnome.nautilus.gschema.xml.

cmcanulty · 2016-05-01 15:23:34

you just open nautilus and click on the gear icon in upper right, though I hate the way they've hidden all the menus

David Gerard · 2016-05-01 15:55:37

cmcanulty wrote:

you just open nautilus and click on the gear icon in upper right, though I hate the way they've hidden all the menus

If you can show me a screenshot of what you mean and where this gear icon is in a stock Xubuntu 16.04 with the Ubuntu 16.04 default Nautilus 3.14.3, that would be most appreciated, 'cos it sure isn't visible on the two-day-old installation I'm typing this on.

ToZ · 2016-05-01 18:51:38

I believe the cog button was removed some versions of nautilus ago. Makes it difficult now to get at the settings if you're not using Gnome as your DE and consequently you have to use the gsettings command line interface or the dconf-editor application.

cmcanulty · 2016-05-01 20:20:59

Oh I have nautilus 3.10.1 and I keep my system all updated, I wonder why it hasn't updated on my machine? I rarely use nautilus since it got all crazy by deleting all the menus, now it is even worse? I would post a screenshot but this forum hasn't an option for that. I use thunar but keep nautilus for a few times I need their resize images function and a few other things. I also find thunar opens WAY faster than nautilus.

Last edited by cmcanulty (2016-05-01 20:27:17)

David Gerard · 2016-05-01 20:45:42

cmcanulty: you're using Xubuntu 14.04 then :-) This is about 16.04, which I just upgraded to.

(verdict so far: I don't like the new font as much as the old one, and Nautilus is weird, but other than that it's just fine)

ToZ · 2016-05-01 21:55:06

@David Gerard, out of curiosity, why nautilus instead of thunar? Is it because if the file/folder move/rename crashing bug?

David Gerard · 2016-05-01 22:07:37

I just liked Nautilus better. Thunar is also not very smart (still!) about moving files on an SMB share (it sometimes tries to do a copy when it could do a move - if I were but a coder ...).

I tried PCmanFM for a while (even more minimal) but decided I liked Nautilus best. I may change this opinion after a while with 16.04 ...

Last edited by David Gerard (2016-05-01 22:09:24)

thxbb12 · 2016-07-06 15:59:21

ToZ wrote:

@David Gerard, out of curiosity, why nautilus instead of thunar? Is it because if the file/folder move/rename crashing bug?

I just switched to Nautilus for this very reason.
I often rename files and Thunar keeps crashing after a few renames.
Although I'd much rather use Nautilus, Thunar is really unusable for me...

yurbev · 2016-07-12 19:47:20

I don't know if this is referring to the same thing but Thunar takes forever to rename files if there are more than 100. I got around this by creating a YAD bash script for a custom action. Just highlight the files to be renamed and a dialog box comes up. It will rename large number of files quickly. EDIT: I just realized this only works for renaming jpgs, but it could be modified to rename any files I suppose.

#!/bin/sh


rename=$(yad --entry --editable --no-buttons --width 410 \
	--title="Please enter new name and press enter:")
if [ -z "$rename" ]; then
	printf "no caption was selected, aborting!\n"
	exit 1
fi
printf "rename is $rename\n"

count=1; for i in *.jpg; do j=`printf "%04d" $count`; j="$rename"$j".jpg"; count=$((count + 1)); mv "$i" $j; done

	fi
	shift
done

Last edited by yurbev (2016-07-12 20:03:04)

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#1 2016-04-30 15:40:09

Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#2 2016-04-30 16:44:23

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#3 2016-04-30 17:11:10

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#4 2016-04-30 19:43:49

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#5 2016-05-01 15:23:34

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#6 2016-05-01 15:55:37

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#7 2016-05-01 18:51:38

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#8 2016-05-01 20:20:59

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#9 2016-05-01 20:45:42

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#10 2016-05-01 21:55:06

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#11 2016-05-01 22:07:37

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#12 2016-07-06 15:59:21

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

#13 2016-07-12 19:47:20

Re: Xubuntu 16.04: How does one set preferences in Nautilus? (3.14.3)

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