Open Source Web-Based File Browser?

**xoggoth** · 1 May 2006, 17:15

Free code on the internet often requires a good deal of debugging in my experience. Often it just doesn't run at all.

**bogeyman** · 1 May 2006, 17:21

Originally posted by xoggoth

Free code on the internet often requires a good deal of debugging in my experience. Often it just doesn't run at all.

Yes, Xog - my experience exactly.

I'm not knocking OSS as an idea, and there are some great products (Apache, PHP, MySQL, Postgre... et al), but unfortunately, it does give a forum to delusional twats who think they can develop software, and then spectacularly fail to deliver

**TheMonkey** · 1 May 2006, 18:29

Yes most of the stuff out there is total tulip. It's a real minefield of crap code, crap ideas and crap crap. I end up implementing my own stuff usually (ie recently rather than an open source CMS, I knocked up a site with good old mod_include).

As for file browsers and utilities, WebShell is the best I've found, but I can't actually find it anywhere on the internet.

**OwlHoot** · 1 May 2006, 21:46

Originally posted by bogeyman

Dear chaps,

Have wasted all day trying various 'open source' solutions for my requirement of a PHP-based web-browser-hosted file browser (like a simpler Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, nothng very fancy, just the basics)

Er, what about Firefox?

JR in "I probably need to get me coat" mode

**privateeye** · 2 May 2006, 08:04

If you narrow down open source to PHP then you will get a load of trash. PHP is used a lot more by amateurs and fewer professionals. The best open source will always come from the same tools (Java, C++ etc) that the professionals use and normally from those that use their open source programs as a marketing tool for example Collabnet the owners of Subversion market a lot of supporting tools for Subversion.

**DimPrawn** · 2 May 2006, 08:31

PHP is the new VB and I claim my £5.

**BobTheCrate** · 2 May 2006, 09:49

Yes there is a lot of PHP trash out there and as you said because much of it has been churned out by amateurs.

But IMO that does not translate to PHP being trash. The best technologies can easily be bastardised by well meaning but inexperienced developers ... whether they're professional or amateur.

**bogeyman** · 2 May 2006, 12:45

Originally posted by privateeye

If you narrow down open source to PHP then you will get a load of trash. PHP is used a lot more by amateurs and fewer professionals. The best open source will always come from the same tools (Java, C++ etc) that the professionals use and normally from those that use their open source programs as a marketing tool for example Collabnet the owners of Subversion market a lot of supporting tools for Subversion.

I see your point, but I needed this to be in PHP simply because PHP is available on 99% of basic web hosting packages whereas Java isn't and C/C++ GCIs are not always an option.

Bob/DP - well, it's like anything else I suppose, use the tool well and in its proper context and you can do good things (yes, even with VB). I think there a bit of snobbery and elitism in the view that because something is easy to use, the end results must be inferior to something that's hard to use.

Clearly, it is also possible to write utter tulipe in any 'hard' language although I find C++ and Perl are particularly enabling in this respect

**Fleetwood** · 2 May 2006, 12:59

A died-in-the-wool geek down the pub (he has a T-shirt with a file-encryption algorithm printed on it) swears by something called Sapphire. (?)
hth

F in "Mainframe dinosaur" mode

Open Source Web-Based File Browser?