On Wednesday 25 February 2009 9:22:29 am Vincent Povirk wrote: > This discussion has been assuming that .exe files are somehow special > because they are programs
Actually, I'm saying just the opposite. They are *not* special because they are programs, and should honor the executable bit just like any other program should. > What we really > should do is make sure the file manager knows about these types so it > can apply a consistent policy. You mean that dolphin, nautilus, konqueror, firefox, kmail, and anything that can "open" a file should all be made aware of what the different types of files can do? Is it really their responsibility? IMO, it would be better to just hand off a file to its associated program, whether that program is wine, kwrite, firefox, or what-have-you.. the handler should know the type of file better than a file manager, and the handler can be made to honor the proper permissions much easier and quicker than trying to keep all file managers up-to-date. As an example, suppose Dolphin is made to be aware that exe files are programs, and thus restricts opening it with Wine if +x isn't set. A new app comes along that does not know anything special about exe files and/or passes it off to Wine as the associated program anyway. It becomes popular, and the less-technically-inclined people start using it. That puts us right back at square one.