On Sun, Jan 12, 2003 at 03:37:44PM +0000, Thomas Leonard wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm currently updating the freedesktop.org shared MIME database spec[1].
> I'd like to add a note about reading the MIME type from an extended
> attribute, if the filesystem supports it, but I'm not sure what key to
> use. 'mime', 'MIME-Type', and 'ContentType' have all been suggested.
>
> Does anyone here know if there's a canonical key name for this? Sorry if
> this is the wrong place for such questions.
>
> [1] http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info.html
>
> PS: I'm not on the list, so please CC any replies. Thanks,
I wonder why you even want to store mime types in a extended attribute
at all? like the filename its really not a good place at all for this
kind of information, its FAR to easy for it to become out of sync with
reality (anyone who has ever used a MacOS system for any length of
time can attest to how flawed a system of storing file type information
in the filesystem really is).
its akin to putting labels on drinking glasses, the glass, like a
file, is merely a container, its contents can and will vary.
Therefore the highest precedence should be given only to the file
content, ie file(1) magic.
I really don't see any compelling reason to waste filesystem space on putting
mime-types in extended attributes, its not portable, and its not
reliable.
as this topic isn't very on topic to linux-xfs please many any replies
off-list.
--
Ethan Benson
http://www.alaska.net/~erbenson/
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