A filemanager that links files?

There was a thread somewhere about using Obsidian as a filemanager, by opening the root directory of your documents as a vault. That was interesting and inspiring.

My approach to my DOWNLOAD folder is NOT to file. The filing takes too long and once filed, it stays there forever, leading to bloat.

So, I’m looking for a new para-dime where forgetting is part of the process.

  1. An obsidian first approach:

Make a list of files, get that into Obsidian, and then use EXTERNAL links to anything outside the vault. Anything OUTSIDE the vault is considered unimportant until it has been accessed many times. Once it has been accessed many times, it gets moved into the vault. Anything in the download folder that hasn’t been accessed in 3 months gets deleted automatically.

  1. This question came up before:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/qcetgb/using_obsidian_as_a_file_explorer/

and led to:
TheBrain.com

But this is a particularly commercial looking piece of software. I hesitate to silo my links, and would prefer to link openly in case the company disappears.