Emacs dired-mode as a file manager
7 hours ago
- #Guix
- #Emacs
- #File Management
- The author uses Emacs as their primary tool for file management, editing, and opening files, bypassing traditional file managers.
- Linux systems use xdg-mime to associate file types with default applications, typically set to open directories in file managers, images in image viewers, etc.
- The author prefers using Emacs for all these tasks, leveraging dired-mode for directory management.
- To configure Emacs as the default for opening directories, the MIME type 'inode/directory' is associated with Emacs via a .desktop file.
- On Guix systems, the author uses home-xdg-mime-applications-service-type to declaratively set these associations, ensuring reproducibility across systems.
- The configuration involves creating an xdg-desktop-entry for Emacs, specifying it as the handler for directories, and using emacsclient for new frames.
- The author suggests additional MIME type associations for users who might want to extend this setup to other file types but finds it unnecessary for their Emacs-centric workflow.
- Recommendation to explore rde by abcdw for those learning Guix and seeking reproducible system configurations.