Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a small milestone from my current project: RCommander, a Norton Commander / Total Commander inspired file manager written in Rust.

What started as a small experiment has now become a real cross-platform desktop application. It currently runs on:

Windows
Linux / Ubuntu
macOS

The goal is not to reinvent every file manager feature at once, but to build a fast, clean and practical commander-style file manager with a modern Rust foundation.

Current features include:

• dual-pane commander-style layout
• file navigation
• basic file operations
• archive support with unzip and unrar
• installer builds
• GTK4-based desktop UI
• very low memory usage compared to many modern desktop apps

For me, the most exciting part is that Rust feels like a really strong foundation for this kind of native desktop tool. The app already feels lightweight and responsive, and I’m slowly moving it from “cool prototype” toward something I can actually use every day.

There is still a lot to do: better archive integration, a large-file viewer, settings, polished platform-specific packaging, and probably many small UX details that only become visible through real use.

I would be happy to hear feedback from other Rust / desktop app developers:

• What would you expect from a modern commander-style file manager?
• Are there any Rust crates or architectural patterns you would recommend for this kind of app?
• Has anyone here shipped GTK4 apps professionally across Windows, Linux and macOS?

This project has been a lot of fun so far. It is no longer just a demo — it is starting to become a real tool.

https://github.com/anjunar/rust-commander

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