RE: Nautilus, metadata and extendet attributes

[raphael bosshard slm admin ch]

Not only did I try reading the debate, I even think I understand most of it.

As far I understand the main concern against extended attributes is based in
the idea that reading them is slow. While this may be true ( And I am not
sure if this statement is true. As far as I know, EAs are cached. Some more
information anyone?) it is definitely faster than sniffing the content of
the file and try to match it against some regexes (This may be a bit
oversimplyfied.) and its also more secure than the so called "file
extension". As I wrote; there is more effort involved to change a file
attribute. I has to happen on intentionaly.

The funny part is, that even Microsoft knows, that "file extensions" are a
bad solution. They try to hide them ("Do not show extensions of know file
types") and, by doing so, create some kind of a pseudo-attribute but without
any clear concept. Let`s not do the same mistake they did some twenty years
ago.

EAs may not be available everywhere. In this case Nautilus can still drop
back to the old/new system. Why not:

1.) Try to read the metadata/EAs of the file. If there is no metadata, try
method 2.

2.) Read the files extension. Save the mime-type by creating filetype
metadata.

In most cases we have now a filetype. Though it may be invaild or wrong,
since both, metadata and file extensions may be changed in bad intention. So
if Nautilus (or any other application) detects a discrepancy between the
file type and the actual file content, it`s content should be detected by
sniffing.

I think this modus operandi should provide a good compromis between speed
and security.

Please note that I do not intent to miscredit or criticize your work. I know
that whilst I am a young student, trying to find is way to the eternal
labyrinths of gtk+ and the mysteries of glib memory allocation (Am I the
only one who thinks that programming I almost like roleplaying?), you are an
experienced programmer (Mage/Druid, Level 15?). I simply try to express my
concerns.

Sincerly,
Raphael


> On Mon, 2004-01-26 at 14:28, raphael bosshard slm admin ch wrote:
> > Hello there..
> > 
> > In context of this sniffing vs. "file-extension" debate I wanted to ask,
> why
> > nautilus does not use extended attributes for filetype-detection where
> > available.
> 
> Did you try reading the debate before asking this question?
> 
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> =
>  Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc
> 
>                    alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
> He's a time-tossed Jewish boxer from the Mississippi delta. She's a
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>