Is there a way to make nautilus run individual processes?

Question

Is there a way to make running "nautilus" create a new process, instead of using the existing one? I'm annoyed with my dock's nautilus launchers thinking the nautilus window is a new application.

Answer 1

If your goal is to prevent new Nautilus windows from displaying as though they are separate applications in the Unity launcher, then making them actually be separate application instances would almost certainly not be helpful.

As others have said, launching separate Nautilus processes will probably not do what you want. For example, you would probably not be able to drag an icon from one Nautilus window to another.

However, if you want to do this, one simple way to achieve it is to install openssh-server and then use ssh -X to connect "remotely" to your own machine:

ssh -X localhost

(I had originally recommended ssh -c blowfish -X localhost for lower latency, but the blowfish cipher is no longer recommended or supported.)

Then, in this "remote" login session, run Nautilus:

nautilus

Again, I emphasize that this will probably not accomplish what you want. Also, please note that there are some security considerations when openssh-server is installed. By default all user accounts can log in, so they should have good passwords, or you should disable accounts that don't, or you can use a firewall to make it so that only connections on the loopback interface (i.e., from localhost to localhost) are allowed on port 22.

Answer 2

Unless you're developing/fixing bugs in nautilus, there is no good reason to have more than one process for the main nautilus code and plenty of reasons not to.

The way nautilus code is laid out makes it quite cumbersome, with all parts integrated into a single monolithic program. when you load nautilus you're loading pieces that load thumbnails, change settings and save files as well as show files and folders in a window, show the desktop, and interact with a couple of other gnome subsystems.

So, it's not really possible to do what you want without reprogramming nautilus or using a different file manager.

Answer 3

Not really sure what you're trying to accomplish that would require separate processes. Perhaps what you want is separate windows to drag files between. You can get a second window with Ctrl-N or from the drop down File menu. You can also add folders to your Home folder launcher and if you right click the launcher icon you can select a folder that opens in its own window. Left clicking the launcher goes to an open Nautilus window and only open a new one if none is present. if Adding those folders is unfortunately still a complicated process in Unity. FYI Nautilus handles the files on your desktop so the Nautilus process is always running.