A new beta release of FSearch, a fast GTK file search app for the Linux desktop, is available for testing.
FSearch is inspired by the Everything Search Engine for Microsoft Windows and supports a core crop of features, including instant (as you type) results, RegEx support, and a range of filters and nimble sorting options.
Before we take a look at the changes shipping with the latest beta, let’s recap what the tool is for anyone who may be new to it.
Why Use FSearch and not X, Y or Z?
This is Linux, and choices never hurt. Everyone is free to not use apps they don’t see the value of. But, as explained in our initial article on this utility, FSearch was created only after its developer did a careful evaluation of the features and performance offered by existing projects and file search tools.
‘It’s not that Nautilus’ file search is terrible (it isn’t) but it is a little on the slow side’
For me the big “sell” of Fsearch is its speed.
It’s not that Nautilus’ file search is terrible (it isn’t) but it is (for my tastes, and many others) a little on the slow side, and it only surfaces results as they’re found, a behaviour which can be infuriating.
Admittedly there are also many fine CLI file search tools available on Linux, but in a mouse-led workflow these lack the efficiency and immediacy of being able to instantly click, copy, delete or open a file, folder or applications.
FSearch bridges the gap, and falls somewhere between the two: it has the speed and finesse of a command line utility but with a mouse-friendly GUI of a traditional app.
Although fairly simple to use I should stress that this app is not aimed at regular users looking to find a misplaced selfie or quickly copy an MP3 file. FSearch is an advanced file search tool built for advanced users’ needs.
I’ll avoid a full FSearch vs ANGRYSearch comparison until the app graduates from beta, but it is fair to say that the former is under active development while the latter hasn’t seen a commit on Github since 2016.
FSearch Beta 2
The latest beta of FSearch adds the following changes:
- Support wildcard characters in search
- utf8 support
- Option to exclude files with exact matches/based on wildcard expressions
- ‘Open with’ menu in right click menu
- Type ahead search in listview
- Update database using Ctrl+Shift+R shortcut
- ‘Delete’, ‘Move to Trash actions add to right-click menu
- Database update progress shown in status bar
Please do keep in mind that app is not yet “stable quality” software. You will encounter bugs, missing features and/or interface quirks. Report issues you find on the FSearch Github page.
You can download the source code for FSearch from Github. Ubuntu 16.04, 16.10 and 17.04 users can install get the latest builds of the app from the FSearch development PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:christian-boxdoerfer/fsearch-daily
sudo apt update && sudo apt install fsearch-trunk
Finally, launch the app from your application menu/launcher.