Anyone expecting to use Linux the same way they are using Windows, without any changes, is going to be disappointed. You cannot reasonably expect to keep the same learned workflows from one system and use them on a completely different system without having to at least tweak some of it.

Learning is part of such switchovers, and loudly complaining that "Thing X is not working like I know it to, this is why people don't like Linux" is not making anyone more likely to help you nor is it going to solve your problem. I'm glad that you managed to find a way to do what you need in any case, and maybe that command will stick around in the back of your head for when you need something similar sometime in the future :)

This is a Thunar issue, not Linux in general. It works with Dolphin's filter bar.

This will search through whatever directory you select (and all subdirectories) for cbz, cbr, zip, or rar files. It will check the contents of each file to determine if it contains any jpg or png files. For all cbzs with jpg or png files, it will extract all data to a temp folder, convert the jpgs/pngs to webp images, and then create a new cbz file with the converted images. Any other contents of the cbz (such as ComicInfo.xml) will be retained. The final file will overwrite the existing file, so ensure you have a backup first.

https://github.com/azuravian/cbz_jpg-to-webp

All that for something that was unnecessary in the first place. The tool you're trying to use already supports the file format you have and works recursively. No need to move files or convert them first.

If you are expecting a more windows-like experience, I would suggest using Ubuntu or Kubuntu (or any other distro using Gnome/KDE), as these are much closer to a modern Windows GUI. With Ubuntu, I can use the default file manager (nautilus) and do Ctrl+F and filter files via *.ext, then select these files then cut and paste to a new folder (drag and drop does not seem to work from the search results). In Kubuntu, the search doesn't recognize * as a wildcard in KDE's file manager (dolphin) but does support drag/drop between windows.

What I find befuddling about this is, you figured out what you needed to do, ie, you had a victory and discovered something new, and you find that somehow bad. You just did some practical console magic. By design, GNU/Linux can do a whole lot more with just the console and piping. Dive in.

I'm sorry to see so many "Don't expect Linux to work the same way" responses.

Have you tried logging a bug requesting the functionality? It seems reasonable.

I'd like you to consider another workflow, too - if you take the knowledge that you've gained about using find and -exec you might find that you don't even need to move them all to one place to preprocess - you could probably find, convert to cbz, and run through the webp conversion all in-place. You could probably even use find ... | xargs and some trickery to do it in parallel quickly.

It's not unreasonable to expect bash skills on a server; it's incredibly uncommon for servers to even have GUIs, and your use case probably hasn't been considered by the developers.

I would just mention 'I want to select and copy/move multiple search results' as the bug and ignore your specific context though. :)

Edit:

It's the rather snappily named cbz_jpg-to-webp by azuravian and the Github page is here:

https://github.com/azuravian/cbz_jpg-to-webp

I'd suggest reading the docs though; it supports cbr and cbz.

Shell commands are vastly more powerful than mouse actions.

It's like the difference between being able to speak to someone using a shared language, versus only being able to point and grunt to get what you want.

The more you learn about using the shell, the more you'll be able to do things very quickly and flexibly, without having to find an app that someone else has already written to do the precise thing you want.

Linux has a graphical file manager? How bizarre.

Some gui have more benefits that others, even some terminal commands are better to use than others, not really a Linux issue.

Sidenite, what's this tool called that can convert the jpgs?

So let's imagine in a weeks time you have a slightly different issue, you need to do the same operations, but only up to 3 subdirectories deep.

On windows you'd be back to square one. on linux you just add -maxdepth 3 to the command you found and congrats it's done.

You have learnt a permanent skill now.

If you keep trying to use GUI to do what you want you're gonna have a bad time. The majority of Linux users doing power stuff like this will use the terminal. Because of that, the GUI is unfortunately underdeveloped.

It's good once you learn it though. Let's say that tool never existed. I could easily write a bash script to compress images in cbr or cbz myself. Or autoconvert all cbr files to cbz. Or watch my downloads directory for new files and do that automatically. It's very flexible and empowering if you learn it. Nobody can make a GUI for every single thing people want a script for.

Since xfce 4.18 Thunar can search files w/o catfish perfectly fine btw. Do Xubuntu still uses the previous version?

So your solution on Windows requires me to move all my files out of where they belong to process them? How do I get them all back when I’m done?

I knew how to write that find command. Didn’t need to search for anything. And because I know how to do that, I can also search for every pdf file modified since last month. I can spit out a list of the gps coordinates for every photo I’ve taken, ordered by latitude. I can find every Python script on my computer that uses Pandas. I can do a million things that boil down to "find every file that matches some complex filter and do something to it", and I learned one tool. I don’t need to learn one point and click app that converts comics, one that messes with photo metadata, etc.

I can sympathize with the idea that there’s a high learning curve. And there’s nothing wrong with trying to provide ways for people to use their computer that require less knowledge. But recognize that you’re asking for a crutch here.

Your title is a bit provocative but I feel you. The biggest plus for Linux is also a bit of a negative: there are so many different ways to do things. There are multiple file managers for example, that all behave differently in some ways. So at the beginning it can be frustrating at times to figure out how things work and how to accomplish your goal.

It was anxiety inducing to read your post as I thought you'd accidentally end up deleting your entire collection!