Juerd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Most worlds don't use file extensions, except for humans.
You exaggerate their lack of importance. File extensions don't matter
to most operating system *kernels*, but they are nevertheless
important for more than just Windows:
* They are of critical importance on Apache-based webservers.
* They instruct command-line tab completion for some shells. This
IMO is a biggie, and would be even bigger if more shells were
smarter. (eshell has a leg up here.)
* They matter somewhat to many *nix applications, such as Emacs and
Gimp. When I say "matter somewhat", I mean that the app
understands what the extension means, and so in the absense of the
extension you have to give the app additional information to
compensate.
* They matter to most GUI file managers in the *nix world. I
personally don't use GUI file managers, but some people do.
* They matter somewhat in the VMS world, though not as much as under
Windows I think.
* They matter in the OS/2 world, if anyone is still using that. Also
DOS, with the same caveat.
* On Mac OS X the extension matters for files that don't have
filetype/creator codes attached to them yet (unless the file is
coming from a source that supplies content-type, such as from a web
server or as an email attachment, in which case the content-type
instructs the addition of filetype/creator codes).
The only OS I know of where file extensions are *totally* not used is
Archimedes. It doesn't allow them at all, from what I understand.
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