GNU Midnight Commander

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Nostalgia & Legacy

  • Many recall Midnight Commander (MC) as the spiritual successor to Norton Commander, alongside Volkov, FAR, Dos Navigator, XTree/PathMinder, etc.
  • Several describe it as a “gateway drug” from DOS to Linux in the mid‑90s and are pleasantly surprised it’s still maintained in 2025.
  • Some share war stories: recovering accidentally rm -rf’d dissertations on ext2 by browsing unlinked inodes via MC.

Current Use Cases

  • Still a default install for many on servers, NAS devices, and remote shells; often the “secret weapon” on headless systems.
  • Used on macOS (via Homebrew), Windows (including WSL), Unraid, and in containers; some even hook it into Kubernetes debug workflows.
  • Common tasks: bulk file moves, SCP/FTP/SFTP over SSH or mounted remote FS, source-tree review (with “Lynx-like motion” + quick view), and simple editing via mcedit.

Features People Value

  • Dual-pane navigation, keyboard-centric workflow, and history/bookmarks for fast directory jumps.
  • Tight shell integration: Ctrl+O to drop to a shell in the current dir, Ctrl+X bindings, and an editable F2 user menu for custom multi-file actions (e.g., rsync, ffmpeg pipelines).
  • Virtual FS support (FTP/SFTP/SSH URLs), background transfers, overwrite strategies, and an easy, approachable editor.

Keyboard, Ergonomics & “Old-School” Debates

  • Strong muscle-memory from the original F-key and numpad layout; others find MC’s shortcuts unintuitive if they never used Norton Commander.
  • Complaints about Tab being “stolen” from shell completion, Escape delays via terminal emulators, and configuration (colors, formats) being trial‑and‑error.
  • Some want vim-style keybindings; MC now supports alternative keymaps (including vim/emacs examples).

Orthodox File Manager Concept

  • Discussion around why these are called “Orthodox File Managers”: dual-pane, command-driven UIs where visible actions map to underlying commands.
  • Long thread on the meaning of “orthodox” in Russian, English, and Greek and whether the term was organic or a “forced meme.”

Alternatives, Comparisons & Criticism

  • Frequent comparisons to Total Commander, FAR/far2l, Krusader, Double Commander, ranger, nnn, yazi, Dired, Dolphin, Marta, Directory Opus, etc.
  • Some say MC feels dated, lacks more advanced/parallel copy features, or is in “maintenance mode.”
  • Others argue graphical file managers or pure shell tools are enough and question why OFMs still inspire such devotion.