3 ms·

MIME types are ultimately a folly, as any specific type worth using will quickly grow into a general container that's no longer useful for the differentiation t

by blasdel 17y ago

MIME types are ultimately a folly, as any specific type worth using will quickly grow into a general container that's no longer useful for the differentiation that matters to clients. application/xml? image/tiff? video/mp4? FUCK ME In implementation, it's even worse: the Content-Type in nearly every HTTP Response on the web is either text/html (default, so it triggers sniffing), application/octet-stream (because your webserver doesn't know any better), or sniffed by the webserver from its extension in the filesystem (again, FUCK ME). On the client-side, mouthbreathing open-source developers are always paying ultimate fealty to Content-Types that were naively sniffed on the server -- text/x-python? how could I possibly display that?

thwarted 17y ago
application/octet-stream (because your webserver doesn't know any better) application/octet-stream has had to be used for things like .zip files because Internet Explorer insisted on opening up application/octet stream even the browser was configured to save it. And to make matters worse, there were some configurations where Quake3 .pk3 files, which are actually zips, wouldn't save by Internet Explorer, so you actually needed to rename them to .pk3.zip, which would sufficiently confuse the browser and prompt to save it. On the client-side, mouthbreathing open-source developers are always paying ultimate fealty to Content-Types that were naively sniffed on the server -- text/x-python? how could I possibly display that? Using a text/* renderer.
- duskwuff 17y ago
  > Using a text/* renderer. Sadly, Firefox doesn't handle this properly natively. Happily, there's a plugin for that: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8207 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8207
  - buro9 17y ago
    This post has raised an unrelated thought: Why aren't Mozilla using Apple's "There's an app for that" to push "There's a plugin for that" as a way to counter the rise of Chrome and Safari? It seems piggy backing off Apple's propaganda that quantity > quality = best would be an easy thing to do here.
    - sp332 17y ago
      Mozilla isn't (currently) interested in countering the rise of Chrome or Safari. The Mozilla Foundation and the Firefox team are pushing for a more open, standards-driven web, and both Chrome and Safari are better than IE. Only after standards are really standard can you have a meaningful competition on the merits of various browsers.
gregwebs 17y ago
down-voted for swearing witch all caps.

by blasdel 17y ago

thwarted 17y ago

application/octet-stream (because your webserver doesn't know any better) application/octet-stream has had to be used for things like .zip files because Internet Explorer insisted on opening up application/octet stream even the browser was configured to save it. And to make matters worse, there were some configurations where Quake3 .pk3 files, which are actually zips, wouldn't save by Internet Explorer, so you actually needed to rename them to .pk3.zip, which would sufficiently confuse the browser and prompt to save it. On the client-side, mouthbreathing open-source developers are always paying ultimate fealty to Content-Types that were naively sniffed on the server -- text/x-python? how could I possibly display that? Using a text/* renderer.

duskwuff 17y ago
> Using a text/* renderer. Sadly, Firefox doesn't handle this properly natively. Happily, there's a plugin for that: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8207 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8207
- buro9 17y ago
  This post has raised an unrelated thought: Why aren't Mozilla using Apple's "There's an app for that" to push "There's a plugin for that" as a way to counter the rise of Chrome and Safari? It seems piggy backing off Apple's propaganda that quantity > quality = best would be an easy thing to do here.
  - sp332 17y ago
    Mozilla isn't (currently) interested in countering the rise of Chrome or Safari. The Mozilla Foundation and the Firefox team are pushing for a more open, standards-driven web, and both Chrome and Safari are better than IE. Only after standards are really standard can you have a meaningful competition on the merits of various browsers.

gregwebs 17y ago

down-voted for swearing witch all caps.