Hi, what is the best way to install Dolphin? I saw its available on Flathub but also as RPM in Software Center. I don’t wanna replace it with Nautilus but wan’t to use Dolphin for some heavy tasks. Regards
You could try with the Flatpak version first, and if you’re not happy with the limits imposed by Flatpak’s sandboxing, try the RPM route.
What are those heave tasks that are provided by Dolphin and not available in Nautilus?
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I would also recommend flatpak for this. If all you want is dolphin then you probably don’t want to rpm install all the KDE stuff necessary to support it.
You can edit the perms with flatseal if you need to enable more access to it.
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I try it for few days, it’s working untill you sfay at /home, any more like NAS or external SSD its not possible.
For example I download a .zip, unzip it and got 20 folder with 20 files. On Dolphin I just press → key (open all folder without entering), hold CTRL + mark the files and when I move it, it ask me “copy or move”. On Files/Nautilus I need to open folder by folder. What I do in Dolphin for few seconds I need few minutes on Nautilus. Than when you just open a folder or drive, on Dolphin I get split view, on bottom I can see how many files are in, how big the folder is, how many disk space in right corner… when I put a NAS folder in fav, when I open it, I see the folder two times on Nautilus, on Dolphin just one. It is like GIMP vs Microsoft Paint, day and night.
I’d use KDE before even considering if Dolphin would work on GNOME 
They’re GUI file managers so I also just use a mouse for most things (Ctrl + X/C/V works everywhere consistently).
Is there a reason you’re using GNOME instead of KDE?
I ran into problems running Dolphin on Gnome on Fedora 40. (It worked on F39, though). It won’t reopen Dolphin window after the first time I run it. (Same issue if I install with dnf or flatpak).
I use GNOME for few years and than switch to KDE but with Fedora 42 I go back to GNOME after 1 year KDE. I like GNOME more (feel and look) but I try after Dolphin it’s disgusting to use Nautilus. I mean for simple things like download and open a PDF, it does the job bur for anything more Dolphin is on a other level.
Flatpak works but just for /home. Maybe I jjst will try it with the RPM.
If you like GNOME, you might consider adjusting the workflows as to be used with GNOME Files.
For example, there’s an option in GNOME Files to activate expandable folders in list view. Also, while one cannot expand all subfolders of a folder with one click, there is the workaround: once in the parent folder, click Ctrl+f for search (this step can even be skipped), then press . (dot), and presuming that all files have extensions, all such files within the searched folder (and subfolders) will be displayed.
Such workflows can be identified for other needs too.
Like I told you and Im sure you never use Dolphin before. Its just ONE point from many other points and even that one is not working like it should. I activate expandable folders but than go ahead and try to open them like on Dolphin.
Last few days after I post this I really force me to use Files/Nautilus… no way. Lose so much time compare to Dolphin and even if you just open settings on both file manager - its like I told you (GIMP vs Paint).
Well I did have to adapt my workflows when switching from Windows to Macs a long time ago, and then again when switching from Macs[1] to Linux in general, and to the GNOME Desktop in particular. Over time I found myself ditching the more featured commander-like file managers in favor of file managers with better desktop integration, as well as reverting to the command line for more complex operations.
But I understand that everyone’s needs are different. The Nautilus proposal came only because of the hurdles you’ve encountered by using Dolphin on the GNOME Desktop.
I did.
This actually reflects the differences in philosophy between the two desktops. GNOME provides a seemingly more consistent, but less adjustable interface, whereas KDE Plasma can be configured OOTB much more extensively, with the downside that it sometimes feels overwhelming or less consistent. It seems you’d want to have best of both worlds.
Let us know if the RPM version of Dolphin is working for you as expected.
Which I’m still using at work. ↩︎
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Hi! I would recommend installing Dolphin as Flatpak, because installing it with dnf will pull a lot of KDE-related packages that might ruin GNOME experience with their overrides, treat Dolphin not as a separate KDE app but an integral (and integrated) part of KDE. So flatpak it is. Alternatively, try Cinnamon’s nemo file manager – it has the same idea behind it, but it doesnt require Qt and KDE related stuff, just plain ol’ GTK3.
Its not working oitside of /home
When you try to add NAS it doesen’t ask for password and just shoe error.