<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

	<para>
	Krusader is a twin-panel file-manager for Linux,
	for KDE 2.x desktop environment.
	</para>
	<para>
	<itemizedlist>
  <title>Krusader Features</title>
  <listitem><para>Configurable toolbar and key-bindings.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Full Ace, Arj, Bzip2, Gzip, Tar, Rpm, Rar, Zip support.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Advanced search module that can search in archives</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Directory comparison and filtering</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Quick view and Tree panels</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Ftp/Samba client with a connection manager.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Opens a terminal to the browsed path.</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Optional embedded console.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Configurable bookmark list (using Book.Man, the bookmark manager).</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Easy editing of file permissions.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Shows the effective permissions for the current user.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Calculates occupied space by marked files and folders.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>internal viewer and configurable Editor</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Offers a command line capable of running something in a terminal with a single click of a button.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Completely supports drag'n'drop: drag from Konqueror straight into a .tar.gz file, from Krusader's panel into the trash-bin, the desktop or into Konqueror !</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Packs (or unpacks) files into a single archive of your choice, without typing a single command.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Tests the integrity of archives.</para></listitem>
	<listitem><para>Compare files by content (via external diff program such as KDiff)</para></listitem>
  <listitem><para>Fully mimetype-aware (with or without magic!).</para></listitem>
	</itemizedlist>
	</para>

	<para>
	Our aim is to give you a tool that does the two most important things:
	manage your files the way you want it, and look great doing it !
	To do just that, Krusader wears a great looking GUI,
	supports drag n' drop and mimetypes (with or without magic!) -
	all you need to feel right at home using it.
	Krusader is packed with cool features, is fast and handles archives transparently,
	basically, all you'd come to expect from tools like Midnight Commander.
	Krusader is open-source, free and is released under the GNU Public License (GPL),
	although we (the developers) still retain the copyright for the project and it's name.
	</para>
	<para>
	The project's target is to create an all-in-one file-manager, which will do all
	the things you'd expect from it, and then some... ;-)
	Since the principle behind Krusader is based on the "old-school" managers
	(Midnight commander, Norton commander), virtual filesystems became a main focus.
	Virtual filesystems (VFSs) are an abstracted layer over all kinds of archived
	information (ZIP files, FTP servers, NFS filesystems, SAMBA shares),
	which allows the user to access all the information transparently -
	just like entering a sub-directory.
	Krusader currently supports VFSs for archives (Zip, Tar, GZip, BZip2, Ace, Rar, Arj),
	packages (RPM) and filesystems (FTP, NFS, Samba).
	Krusader also includes a built-in Mount-Manager, which enables you to
	(un)mount filesystems with a single mouse click, and get usage information.
	A Bookmark-Manager Remote-Connections Manager and Advanced Search module are also included.
	We are planning to develop more modules in the near future,
	thereby enhancing Krusader greatly. (eg: samba browser).
	</para>

	<para>We hope you'll enjoy it, we do !</para>
  <screenshot>
	<screeninfo>Here's a screenshot of Krusader</screeninfo>
	<mediaobject>
		<imageobject><imagedata fileref="krusader1.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
	  <imageobject><imagedata fileref="krusader1.eps" format="EPS"/></imageobject>
	  <textobject><phrase>Screenshot</phrase></textobject>
	</mediaobject>
	</screenshot>

</chapter>
