Re: Proposed XDG Mime spec and gnome-vfs

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On 3 Mar 2003, Jonathan Blandford wrote:

> Hey guys,
> 
> There is currently a shared mime-type spec on xdg-list proposed by
> Thomas Leonard (of Rox desktop fame).  The spec can be seen at:
> 
>   http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~tal00r/info.html
> 
> The current proposal is just for a shared file->mime-type mapping
> system.  We'd like to write a mime-type->handler system as well, though
> there is no current proposal for that at the moment.
> 
> I'd love to see a shared mime-spec in general use across all apps,
> rather than the random hodge-podge we currently have.  Additionally, I'd
> like to do the work to try to get support for this spec (when done) into
> gnome-vfs.  I'd urge anyone interested in this subject to join the
> current discussion on the free-desktop list.  Archives are available at:
> 
>   https://listman.redhat.com/pipermail/xdg-list/2003-February/001183.html
> 
> What do people think of this?  The actual process of going from
> file->mime-type is pretty generic, so I think I can fit it in without
> any external API changes.  The one big problem is that on-disk formats
> will change, which means that we'd need to consider a portability layer
> there.  Are there any requirements beyond the current system that we
> need to consider?  Also, are there any problems with the current API
> that make this plan seem unsound?

I think the spec looks quite good. Much better then it used to be, and 
better than our current system.

How do you mean we need a portability layer? As long as the new shared 
mime database has all the types in the current system we should be able to 
change the implementation and everything would just work. Right?

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
                   alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
He's an old-fashioned pirate librarian on the run. She's a high-kicking punk 
fairy princess with the power to see death. They fight crime!