Re: lynx-dev Lynx 2.7.1 and 2.8 refuse to render certain HTML documents

[Jan Hlavacek]

On Wed, Apr 29, 1998 at 05:07:20PM -0600, Jason F. McBrayer wrote:
> >>>>> "HS" == Heather Stern <address@hidden> writes:
> 
> HS> I ate the fortune cookie first, then read what Jason F. McBrayer wrote:
> >> Using file extensions for file typing is an abomination, and since
> >> the web has a perfectly satisfactory alternative (mime types), we
> >> should do file typing the right way.
> 
> HS> Theoretically with MIME types we shouldn't need extensions at
> HS> all... except, as far as I can tell, that's how most servers
> HS> determine what MIME type to state during HTTP!
> 
> \begin{rant}
> Unfortunately, yes, since Unix doesn't have typed files
> and most http servers run on Unix.  Still, the Unix philosophy is that
> files /really/, /really/ don't have types: a stream is a stream is a
> stream.  The use of extensions for setting MIME types is clearly an
> example of the Windows mindset slopping over into Unix, and not an
> expression of the Unix philosophy.
> 
> Servers running on OSes that DO have typed files (Macintosh, OS/2)
> could use the native file type (resources, EAs) to set the MIME type.
> What servers on Unix /should/ do is to generate indices of files in
> each directory, let their file types be assigned in the index, and
> refer to the index for what MIME type to send out.  Or perhaps use
> magic numbers to decide (as in file(1)), or some combination of the
> two.  But we seem to be stuck with the idea that, say, PostScript
> files have to be named "dog.ps" and not "A picture of my dog Spot"
> just because people in the DOS world say so.  Bleah.  File names have
> nothing to do with file types, so there :)
> \end{rant}

Doesn't apache let you specify file types in .htaccess files?  I tried
to look it up,  but I can't connect to www.apache.org (perhaps their
server is down :).

lahvak
-- 
Jan Hlav\'{a}\v{c}ek
address@hidden  (Blind Carbon Copies will bounce)
www: http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~lahvak/