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xfm-1.3

Here is an extract from the source distribution xfm-1.3 README file:

	XFM - The X File Manager (ver 1.3)
	----------------------------------

	(c) Simon Marlow 1990-1993 	simonm@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk
	(c) Albert Graef 1994		ag@muwiinfa.geschichte.uni-mainz.de

	This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
	it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
	by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) 
	any later version.

	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the 
	GNU General Public License for more details.

	You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
	along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
	Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a powerful file and applications manager program written using the X
toolkit. It contains virtually all of the features that you would expect in a
file manager -- move around your directory tree in multiple windows, and move,
copy or delete files with simple mouse operations. Directory displays are
updated automatically in regular intervals when the contents of a diaplayed
directory changes. The integrated application manager allows you to load files
into your favourite applications from the file manager by dragging icons. It
can also be used as a "shelf" onto which you can place files and directories
you are currently working with. A special LOAD action for application files
enables you to manage different application groups.

User-definable file types allow you to specify a command to be executed when
double-clicking on a file or dropping other files onto it. The command can
also prompt you for required parameters. Xfm makes it easy to configure
special kinds of actions such as, e.g., replacing the contents of a compressed
tar archive with a collection of selected files. A lot of corresponding
examples can be found in the distribution, including a fully functional
trashcan feature. Last not least, xfm can automatically mount and unmount
special devices like floppies as you open and close the corresponding
directories (mount points). So you won't have to fiddle around with mount or
mtools commands any more if all you want to do is copy some files between the
hard disk and your floppy drive.

The original version of this program was written by Simon Marlow at the
University of Glasgow. I included Simon's README for reference purposes; see
README-1.2. [Most of the information in this file is outdated; please refer to
this README file and the man page for up-to-date installation and usage
instructions.] The current release stems from my efforts to resolve some nasty
bugs in the 1.2 beta version distributed with Linux slackware, and to add XPM
support for displaying color icons in the file and application windows. As it
came out, I also added a plethora of other features to make xfm the tool I was
looking for; see the ChangeLog for details. Realizing that my private xfm
version might be useful for others as well, I contacted Simon and he told me
to put together a new release and make it available on the net. So here it is!
I hope you will find it as useful as I do -- I am now using xfm regularly, and
can't imagine how I ever did without it. I think that this program compares
well to other free -- and even commercial -- file managers. It is fast,
convenient to use, and offers a lot of built-in functionality and
configuration options. If you are not addicted to the shell and like to
shuffle around files with one hand in order to perform tasks such as moving,
copying, deleting, compiling, formatting, archiving, compressing, etc. etc.,
then xfm is certainly for you.