nautilus-toolbox

Restores type ahead (jump to file) and backspace to parent folder features to Nautilus (GNOME Files).

The guide below is aimed at Fedora Linux, but should work with any other Linux distribution.

Additionally, the shortcut <Alt>C opens a Terminal in the host system from the current working directory.

Instructions

Create virtual environment

Create a Toolbox container with Fedora 36 (GNOME 42):

toolbox create -d fedora -r 36 fedora-toolbox-36

Install patched Nautilus

Enter the Toolbox container, update and install Nautilus:

toolbox enter fedora-toolbox-36

dnf update

dnf install -y nautilus \
               nautilus-extensions \
               nautilus-python

Replace the Nautilus package with the patched versions:

dnf install -y rpm/nautilus*.rpm

Aftewards, copy the files in config and local accordingly:

mkdir -p ~/.config/nautilus \
         ~/.local/share/nautilus/scripts \
         ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions

cp config/nautilus/scripts-accels ~/.config/nautilus/

cp local/share/nautilus/scripts/Terminal ~/.local/share/nautilus/scripts/

cp local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/CustomShortcuts.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions

(Recommended) Copy application shortcut/icons

Create a new .desktop shortcut pointing to patched Nautilus:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications \
         ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps \
         ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/symbolic/apps

cp local/share/applications/nautilus.desktop \
    ~/.local/share/applications/

cp local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/nautilus.png \
    ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/

cp local/share/icons/hicolor/symbolic/apps/nautilus.png \
    ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/symbolic/apps/

sudo cp bin/nautilus /usr/local/bin/

(Optional) Remove base package

On Fedora Silverblue only, the default Nautilus package might be removed with:

rpm-ostree override remove nautilus gnome-classic-session

Known limitations

As we are running Nautilus in a container, only files available from within (e.g., inside /home/$USER) will be accessible from the file manager.
Even though the launcher works as expected and can be pinned in the dock, a new running program will also appear whenever Nautilus is opened.

If you care about type ahead in Nautilus, make sure to show your support in the current discussion.