Dolphin (file manager)
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| Dolphin (file manager) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dolphin |
| Developer | KDE |
| Released | 2006 |
| Latest release | Plasma 5 series |
| Programming language | C++ |
| Operating system | Linux, BSD |
| License | GPL |
Dolphin (file manager) is a file manager developed by KDE as part of the KDE Software Compilation and later KDE Plasma workspaces. It serves as the default file management application for KDE Plasma 4 and KDE Plasma 5 desktops, aiming to provide a lightweight, flexible alternative to other graphical file managers. Dolphin emphasizes usability, extensibility, and tight integration with the KDE ecosystem and related technologies.
Overview
Dolphin was created within the KDE community to modernize file management for users of KDE Plasma and replace earlier tools like Konqueror in its file-manager role. It is implemented in C++ using the Qt framework and leverages libraries from KDE Frameworks and KIO. Dolphin integrates with system services like Solid for hardware, KWallet for credentials, and Baloo for indexing. The project follows the GNU General Public License and is developed openly on platforms associated with KDE e.V. and hosted using KDE Invent resources.
Features
Dolphin offers multiple view modes including icon, compact, and detail views, alongside split views and tabs for multitasking. It supports network protocols via KIO with backends for SFTP, FTP, SMB/CIFS, and WebDAV, enabling access to Samba shares, SSH servers, and cloud services. Dolphin includes file previews powered by plugins and integrates with indexing services such as Baloo for fast search. It supports file operations with progress dialogs and job control inspired by KIO job APIs, and provides batch renaming, file versioning hooks for Git repositories, and metadata editing compatible with standards used by ExifTool and multimedia frameworks like GStreamer.
User Interface and Customization
Dolphin's UI follows design principles shared with KDE Human Interface Guidelines and Plasma shell components, featuring a breadcrumb bar, location bar, and sidebar that show places like Home, mounted volumes, and bookmarks. Users customize pane layouts, toolbars, and context menu entries; Dolphin supports service menus created for KDE Applications and integrates with the KDE File Associations system. Appearance integrates with Breeze themes and respects global settings from System Settings, with icon sets from projects like Icon Theme repositories. Custom actions can invoke external applications such as Konsole, Krita, Inkscape, VLC, Dolphin-adjacent utilities, and version control tools like GitHub clients.
Development and History
Development began during the mid-2000s within the KDE community to provide a dedicated file manager distinct from Konqueror which combined file management and web browsing. Key milestones align with releases of KDE Plasma 4 and the transition to KDE Frameworks 5 and Plasma 5, where Dolphin adopted modern APIs and ported to Qt5 and later Qt6 in coordination with KDE neon and distribution maintainers such as openSUSE, Fedora, Debian, and Arch Linux. Contributors include developers and organizations associated with KDE e.V., and Dolphin's roadmap has been discussed at events like Akademy and in lists hosted on KDE Community Forums. Stability and feature improvements have paralleled kernel and filesystem advances in Linux kernel releases and integration with storage technologies like Btrfs and ZFS on Linux.
Reception and Adoption
Dolphin has been adopted as the default file manager in many KDE-based distributions including Kubuntu, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and variants of Netrunner. Reviews in technology outlets and community blogs have compared Dolphin to other managers like Files from GNOME and Thunar from Xfce, often praising Dolphin's configurability and KDE integration while noting differing design philosophies. Its extensibility and plugin architecture have made it popular among users requiring advanced file operations in environments such as Scientific Linux and developer-oriented distributions. Dolphin's usability has been discussed at conferences including FOSDEM and in academic courses that reference Linux desktop environments.
Integration and Plugins
Dolphin supports plugins and service menus allowing interaction with applications and services from projects such as Krita, Digikam, Kdenlive, and Okular. It interfaces with Akonadi for contact and resource linking, with file metadata exposed to tools like Recoll and Tracker in some setups. Plugin ecosystems include thumbnailers for formats handled by GStreamer, ffmpeg, and ImageMagick, while integration with cloud services leverages backends and wrappers used by Nextcloud, ownCloud, and KIO GDrive. Distributions extend Dolphin with patches and integration scripts coordinated through GitLab instances and packaging systems like RPM and DEB to ensure consistent behavior across environments.