/far2l

Linux port of FAR v2

Primary LanguageCGNU General Public License v2.0GPL-2.0

Cirrus Build Status Coverage Status Coverity Scan Language Grade: C/C++ Packages

far2l tag

Linux fork of FAR Manager v2 (http://farmanager.com/)
Works also on OSX/MacOS and BSD (but latter not tested on regular manner)
BETA VERSION.
Use on your own risk!

Plug-ins that are currently working: NetRocks (SFTP/SCP/FTP/FTPS/SMB/NFS/WebDAV), colorer, multiarc, tmppanel, align, autowrap, drawline, editcase, SimpleIndent, Calculator, Python (optional scripting support)

FreeBSD/MacOS (Cirrus CI): Cirrus

License: GNU/GPLv2

Used code from projects

  • FAR for Windows and some of its plugins
  • WINE
  • ANSICON
  • Portable UnRAR
  • 7z ANSI-C Decoder
  • utf-cpp by ww898

Note: Far2l uses keyboard shortcurts in the tradition of the Far Manager for Windows, but some of them (Alt-F1, Alt-F2, Alt-F7, Ctrl-arrows, etc.) usually exclusively used in desktop environment GNOME, KDE, Xfce, macOS etc. and in terminal emulators. To work with these keys in far2l you need to release keyboard shortcuts globally in the environment settings (see #2326) or use far2l lifehacks: Sticky controls via Ctrl-Space or Alt-Space or Exclusively handle hotkeys option in the Input settings (see details in buil-in far2l help).

UI Backends

FAR2L has base UI Backends (see details in build-in help section UI backends):

  • GUI (WX): uses wxWidgets, works in graphics mode, ideal UX (might add dependencies to your desktop environment, e.g. wxWidgets toolkit and related packages);

  • TTY|Xi: works in terminal mode, requires a dependency on pair X11 libraries (to access clipboard and to get state of all keyboard modifiers), almost perfect UX;

  • TTY|X: works in terminal mode, uses X11 to access clipboard, all keyboard works via terminal;

  • TTY: plain terminal mode, no X11 dependencies, UX with some restrictions (works fully when running in the terminal emulators, which provide clipboard access and has their advanced keyboard-protocols).

Mode
(UI Backends)		 TTY
(plain far2l)		 TTY|X TTY|Xi GUI
Works: in console
and in any
terminal		 in terminal
window
under graphic
X11 session		 in terminal
window
under graphic
X11 session		 in Desktop
environment
(X11
or Wayland
or macOS)
via wxWidgets
Binaries: far2l far2l
far2l_ttyx.broker		 far2l
far2l_ttyx.broker		 far2l
far2l_gui.so
Dependencies: minimal + libx11 + libx11, libxi + wxWidgets, GTK
Keyboard: Typical terminals:
only essential
key combinations

KiTTY (putty fork),
kitty (*nix one),
iTerm2,
Windows Terminal,
far2l’s VT: full support		 Typical terminals:
only essential
key combinations

KiTTY (putty fork),
kitty (*nix one),
iTerm2,
Windows Terminal,
far2l’s VT: full support		 Typical terminals:
most of key
combinations under x11;
only essential key
combinations
under Wayland

KiTTY (putty fork),
kitty (*nix one),
iTerm2,
Windows Terminal,
far2l’s VT: full support		 All key
combinations
Clipboard
access:		 Typical terminals:
via command line
tools like xclip

kitty (*nix one),
iTerm2:
via OSC52

Windows Terminal:
via OSC52
or via command line
tools under WSL

KiTTY (putty fork),
far2l’s VT:
via far2l extensions		 Typical terminals,
kitty (*nix one):
via x11 interaction

iTerm2:
via OSC52

Windows Terminal:
via OSC52
or via command line
tools under WSL

KiTTY (putty fork),
far2l’s VT:
via far2l extensions		 Typical terminals,
kitty (*nix one):
via x11 interaction

iTerm2:
via OSC52

Windows Terminal:
via OSC52
or via command line
tools under WSL

KiTTY (putty fork),
far2l’s VT:
via far2l extensions		 via
wxWidgets API

via command line
tools under WSL
Typical
use case:		 Servers,
embedded
(*wrt, etc)		 Run far2l in
favorite terminal
but with
better UX		 Run far2l in
favorite terminal
but with
best UX		 Desktop
Debian / Ubuntu
official repositories:		 none
(use far2l due to
auto downgrade)		 far2l far2l far2l-wx
(since 2.6.4 /
Ubuntu 25.04+)
Community PPA: far2l far2l-ttyx far2l-ttyx far2l-gui

Note: When running far2l automatically downgrade if its components are not installed (or system libs are not available): GUI ⇒ TTY|Xi ⇒ TTY|X ⇒ TTY. To force run only specific backend use in command line: for GUI: far2l --notty; for TTY|Xi use in command line: far2l --tty; for TTY|X: far2l --tty --nodetect=xi; for plain TTY: far2l --tty --nodetect=x (see details via far2l --help).

Note about use OSC 52 in TTY/TTY|X: to interact with the system clipboard you must not forget to enable OSC 52 in both the FAR2L settings (Options⇒Interface settings⇒Use OSC52 to set clipboard data, which shown in the dialog only if far2l run in TTY/TTY|X mode and all other options for clipboard access are unavailable; you can run far2l --tty --nodetect to force not use others clipboard options), and in terminal settings option OSC 52 must be allowed (by default, OSC 52 is disabled in some terminals for security reasons; OSC 52 in many terminals is implemented only for the copy mode, and paste from the terminal goes by bracketed paste mode).

Installing, Running

Debian/Ubuntu binaries from the official repositories

  • TTY X/Xi backends only (Debian / Ubuntu 23.10+)

    apt install far2l

  • GUI backend (Debian since far2l 2.6.4 / Ubuntu 25.04+)

    apt install far2l-wx

Debian has far2 in sid-unstable / 13 trixie-testing / 12 bookworm-backports; Ubuntu since 23.10. Details about versions in the official repositories see in https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=far2l or https://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=far2l

Note: binaries in official repositories may be very outdated, actual binaries or portable see in Community packages & binaries.

Note: Since far2l 2.6.4 Debian/Ubuntu packages build with pythons subplugins.

Backport official packages for old Debian/Ubuntu system [click to expand/collapse]

A simple sid back port should be as easy as (build your own binary deb from the official source deb package, required install dependencies):

# you will find the latest dsc link at http://packages.debian.org/sid/far2l
dget http://deb.debian.org/debian/pool/main/f/far2l/2.6.3~beta+ds-1.dsc
dpkg-source -x *.dsc
cd far2l-*/
debuild
# cd .. and install your self built far2l*.deb

OSX/MacOS binaries

You can install prebuilt package for x86_64 platform via Homebrew Cask, by command:

brew install --cask far2l

You can also manually download and install prebuilt package for x86_64 platform from Releases page: https://github.com/elfmz/far2l/releases

Docker

You can use containers to try far2l without installing anything.

docker build . -l far2l
docker run -it far2l

See also Community packages & binaries

Building, Contributing, Hacking

Required dependencies

  • libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev or libwxgtk3.2-dev in newer distributions, or libwxgtk3.0-dev in older ones (optional - needed for GUI backend, not needed with -DUSEWX=no)
  • libx11-dev (optional - needed for X11 extension that provides better UX for TTY backend wherever X11 is available)
  • libxi-dev (optional - needed for X11/Xi extension that provides best UX for TTY backend wherever X11 Xi extension is available)
  • libxml2-dev (optional - needed for Colorer plugin, not needed with -DCOLORER=no)
  • libuchardet-dev (optional - needed for auto charset detection, not needed with -DUSEUCD=no)
  • libssh-dev (optional - needed for NetRocks/SFTP)
  • libssl-dev (optional - needed for NetRocks/FTPS)
  • libsmbclient-dev (optional - needed for NetRocks/SMB)
  • libnfs-dev (optional - needed for NetRocks/NFS)
  • libneon27-dev (or later, optional - needed for NetRocks/WebDAV)
  • libarchive-dev (optional - needed for better archives support in multiarc)
  • libunrar-dev (optional - needed for RAR archives support in multiarc, see -DUNRAR command line option)
  • libicu-dev (optional - needed if used non-default ICU_MODE, see -DICU_MODE command line option)
  • python3-dev (optional - needed for python plugins support, see -DPYTHON command line option)
  • python3-cffi (optional - needed for python plugins support, see -DPYTHON command line option)
  • cmake ( >= 3.2.2 )
  • pkg-config
  • g++
  • git (needed for downloading source code)

or simply on Debian/Ubuntu:

apt-get install libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev libx11-dev libxi-dev libxml2-dev libuchardet-dev libssh-dev libssl-dev libsmbclient-dev libnfs-dev libneon27-dev libarchive-dev cmake pkg-config g++ git

In older distributions: use libwxgtk3.0-dev instead of libwxgtk3.0-gtk3-dev.

Clone and Build

  • Clone current master
git clone https://github.com/elfmz/far2l
cd far2l
  • Checkout some stable release tag (master considered unstable): git checkout v_2.#.#
  • Prepare build directory:
mkdir -p _build
cd _build
  • Build: with make:
cmake -DUSEWX=yes -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
cmake --build . -j$(nproc --all)

or with ninja (you need ninja-build package installed)

cmake -DUSEWX=yes -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -G Ninja ..
cmake --build .

  • If above commands finished without errors - you may:

    • just run far2l from ./install/far2l
      (use the full path to run from any location: <path>/far2l/_build/install/far2l)

    • or/and install far2l: sudo cmake --install .

    • or/and it's possible to create far2l_2.X.X_ARCH.deb or ...tar.gz packages in _build directory by running cmake --build . --target package command.

Additional build configuration options:

To build without WX backend (console version only): change -DUSEWX=yes to -DUSEWX=no also in this case dont need to install libwxgtk*-dev package

To force-disable TTY|X and TTY|Xi backends: add argument -DTTYX=no; to disable only TTY|Xi - add argument -DTTYXI=no

To eliminate libuchardet requirement to reduce far2l dependencies by cost of losing automatic charset detection functionality: add -DUSEUCD=no

By default far2l uses pre-generated "hardcoded" UNICODE characters properties. But this can be changed by specifying -DICU_MODE when configuring cmake: -DICU_MODE=prebuilt - is a described above default implementaion. Most dependency-less option. -DICU_MODE=build - re-generate characters properties during build by using libicu available on build system, but it still not required to be present on target. -DICU_MODE=runtime - obtain properties at runtime (that can be bit slower) using libicu that required to be present on target system.

To build with Python plugin: add argument -DPYTHON=yes but you must have installed additional packages within yours system: python3-dev, python3-cffi.

To control how RAR archives will be handled in multiarc: -DUNRAR=bundled (default) use bundled sources found in multiarc/src/formats/rar/unrar -DUNRAR=lib use libunrar and unrar utility, also build requires libunrar-dev to be installed -DUNRAR=NO dont use special unrar code, rar archives will be handled by libarchive unless its also disabled

There're also options to toggle other plugins build in same way: ALIGN AUTOWRAP CALC COLORER COMPARE DRAWLINE EDITCASE EDITORCOMP FARFTP FILECASE INCSRCH INSIDE MULTIARC NETROCKS SIMPLEINDENT TMPPANEL

OSX/MacOS build

To make custom/recent build use brew or MacPorts.

  • Supported compiler: AppleClang 8.0.0.x or newer. Check your version, and install/update Xcode if necessary.
clang++ -v
  • If you want to build using Homebrew - first visit https://brew.sh/ for installation instructions. Note that there're reported problems with Homebrew-based build under MacOS Big Sur.
  • If you want to build using MacPorts - first visit https://www.macports.org/install.php for installation instructions.
One line OSX/MacOS install latest far2l git master via unofficial brew tap
  • With GUI/TTY backends:
brew install --HEAD yurikoles/yurikoles/far2l
  • With TTY backend only:
brew install --HEAD yurikoles/yurikoles/far2l --without-wxwidgets
  • Additionally you can enable python support by adding --with-python@3.10 to the one of two above commands.
Full OSX/MacOS build from sources (harder):

Some issues can be caused by conflicting dependencies, like having two versions of wxWidgets, so avoid such situation when installing dependencies.

  • Clone:
git clone https://github.com/elfmz/far2l
cd far2l
  • Install needed dependencies with MacPorts:
sudo port install cmake pkgconfig wxWidgets-3.2 libssh openssl libxml2 uchardet neon
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/opt/local/lib/pkgconfig
  • OR if you prefer to use brew packages, then:
brew bundle -v
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$PKG_CONFIG_PATH:$(brew --prefix)/opt/openssl/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix)/opt/libarchive/lib/pkgconfig"
  • After dependencies installed - you can build far2l: with make:
mkdir _build
cd _build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -DUSEWX=yes -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
cmake --build . -j$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)

or with ninja:

mkdir _build
cd _build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local -DUSEWX=yes -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -G Ninja ..
cmake --build .
  • Then you may create .dmg package by running: cpack command. Note that this step sometimes fails and may succeed from not very first attempt. Its recommended not to do anything on machine while cpack is in progress. After .dmg successfully created, you may install it by running open ...path/to/created/far2l-*.dmg
macOS workaround if far2l in macOS regularly asks permission to folders

After command

 sudo codesign --force --deep --sign - /Applications/far2l.app

it is enough to confirm permission only once.

Details see in issue.

Building on Gentoo (and derivatives)

For absolute minimum you need:

emerge -avn dev-libs/libxml2 app-i18n/uchardet dev-util/cmake

If you want to build far2l with wxGTK support also install it:

emerge -avn x11-libs/wxGTK

Additionally, for NetRocks you will need:

emerge -avn net-libs/neon net-libs/libssh net-fs/libnfs net-fs/samba

After installing, follow Clone and Build section above.

Installing and Building on NixOS

To install system-wide, add the far2l package to your configuration.nix environment.systemPackages list. To run the application on-demand without affecting the system state, execute nix-shell -p far2l --command far2l. These use a package version from your current channel.

The Far2l adaptation for nix is a small file on GitHub, it tells which Git revision from Far2l repo to fetch, with what dependencies to build it, and how to patch its references to other software to make it run in isolated fashion independently from other versions available in the system.

You can build and run far2l package for any revision:

  • Directly from GitHub (NixOS/nixpkgs repo, or your own fork and branch):
nix-shell -I nixpkgs=https://github.com/<fork>/nixpkgs/archive/<revision-or-branch>.tar.gz -p far2l --command far2l
  • From a locally cloned working directory of the repo:
nix-shell -I nixpkgs=/path/to/nixpkgs -p far2l --command far2l

To advance the package to a new Far2l revision, edit the fetchFromGitHub set attributes rev (revision hash) and sha256 (revision content hash). Important! If you leave the old content hash, the old cached content for that hash might be used without attempting to download the new revision. If you're not expecting the build to break, the easiest would be to make a fork, push the change, and build straight from github.

IDE Setup

You can import the project into your favourite IDE like QtCreator, CodeLite, or any other, which supports cmake or which cmake is able to generate projects for.

  • QtCreator: select "Open Project" and point QtCreator to the CMakeLists.txt in far2l root directory
  • CLion: the same as QtCreator.
  • CodeLite: use this guide to setup a project: https://wiki.codelite.org/pmwiki.php/Main/TheCMakePlugin (to avoid polluting your source tree, don't create your workspace inside of the far2l directory)
  • Visual Studio Code (required CMake Tools extension): open far2l root directory (by default building in subdirectory _build; you can change in .vscode/settings.json)

Terminals and SSH clients

Supporting extended far2l keyboard shortcuts and clipboard access

Note: to full transfer extended keyboard shortcuts and the clipboard to/from the remote far2l one of the best way to initiate the connection inside local far2l-GUI (see details in build-in help section UI backends).

Useful 3rd-party extras

Community packages & binaries

They are mainteined by enthusiasts and may be not exact with master: sometimes has extra plugins, sometimes has tweak, etc.

  • Portable (with TTY X/Xi backend) | AppImage (with wx-GUI and some extra plugins): https://github.com/spvkgn/far2l-portable/releases

  • Ubuntu and Mint from PPA with fresh far2l: https://launchpad.net/~far2l-team/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

    • tips for toggle between repositories PPA and official Ubuntu [click to expand/collapse]

      • Tranfser to binaries from PPA repository

        sudo apt remove far2l*                      # required if any far2l was installed
sudo apt install software-properties-common # required if add-apt-repository not installed
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:far2l-team/ppa
#sudo apt install far2l-gui  # (!) use if you need plain+GUI backends
#sudo apt install far2l-ttyx # (!) use if you need plain+TTY|Xi backends
#sudo apt install far2l      # (!) use if you need only plain backend

      • Disconnection PPA and return to official Ubuntu repository

        sudo apt remove far2l*                      # required if any far2l was installed
sudo apt install software-properties-common # required if add-apt-repository not installed
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:far2l-team/ppa
#sudo apt install far2l     # (!) use if you need plain+TTY|Xi backends
#sudo apt install far2l-wx  # (!) use if you need plain+GUI backends

  • Fedora and CentOS: https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/polter/far2l

  • OpenSUSE, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu: https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/viklequick/
    (contain separate packages with external plugins;
    in sources.list you may add: deb https://downloadcontentcdn.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/viklequick/<os-version> ./)

  • OpenWrt: https://github.com/spvkgn/far2l-openwrt

  • Termux: https://github.com/spvkgn/far2l-termux

  • Flatpak: https://github.com/spvkgn/far2l-flatpak (access only to part of real filesystem via sandbox)

See also in elfmz#647

Notes on porting and FAR Plugin API changes

Testing

Known issues:

  • Only valid translations are English, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian (interface only), all other languages require deep correction.