cpq and mvq: extensions of the Unix commands cp and mv to use a queue

Problem
You browse your hard drive(s) and you want to copy/move several files to somewhere else. If the files are big (e.g. movies), then you need to wait minutes until a copy/move operation finishes. If the files are in different folders, you cannot select them all. If you try to launch each operation in the background, your machine will get very slow since all these operations will run concurrently.

Clearly, copy/move operations should be put in a queue and the next operation should start when the previous one terminates.

Solution
Under Windows you have Total Commander (F5/F6, then F2), but how to do it under Linux? Should I use Total Commander with wine? :) Under Linux I use Midnight Commander but in MC I didn’t find this feature. There is another Norton Commander clone called Krusader that has this feature but I didn’t like it much. I prefer MC :)

So, I came up with the following solution: create two command-line scripts called “cpq” and “mvq” that work like cp and mv (actually they call cp and mv) but they put tasks in a queue. These scripts launch a daemon process if necessary that executes each copy/move operation one after the other.

The project can be found here (https://github.com/jabbalaci/Copy-Queue) where you can also find a description about its installation.

Update (20130403)
Pierre (alias Deimos) wrote about “cpq” and “mvq” in his blog in French: Copy-Queue : un manager de copie de fichiers en ligne de commande.

File manager with copy queue

Problem

Under Windows, I use Total Commander. Under Linux, my favorite is Midnight Commander but there is one thing that I miss a lot: copy queue. That is, I would like to send copy tasks in a queue. If you open several MC instances and you start a copy task in each, it will be very slow. Windows’ Total Commander has this function. Is there a file manager under Linux that can do that?

This feature is very useful when you want to make a compilation. For instance, you go to a friend with your external HDD, you browse his movie/music collection on his machine, and you just put in the copy queue what you like. At a given moment only one file is copied, so the system stays responsive.

Solution #1

The file manager Krusader knows this. Copy queue works exactly like in Total Commander: F5, then F2.

First, install krusader:

sudo apt-get install krusader

apt-get will suggest several extra packages (unrar, 7zip, unace, etc.). It can be a good idea to install them too.

When I put a shortcut on my desktop, an empty icon was associated to the application :( You can download a nice icon from here.

Solution #2 (update 20110928)

You can also try Double Commander, which “is a cross platform open source file manager with two panels side by side. It is inspired by Total Commander and features some new ideas.”

Installation from PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexx2000/doublecmd
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk

I’ve read about DC here (in Hungarian).