Nautilus, metadata and extendet attributes

[raphael bosshard slm admin ch]

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.

Is there a good, valid reason?

Extended attributes would be a good solution to store information such as
the filetype. The filename-"extension" can be changed accidentally, but to
change an file attribute, much more effort is involved.

As for sniffing vs. "file-extension" (what a stupid name. Does it extend my
file?) I´d prefer the old (sniffing) behavior.
Correctness should have priority over speed, just as Manuel Amador already
wrote.


So long,
Raphael


Filename dot filetype bashing:
-------
Filename means "the name of this specific file", not "the name of this
specific file, it´s mime-type, it´s size and it´s position on the desktop".
The filename attribute was designed to store the file designation, not as a
bin for all kind of meta information the filesystem forgot to include in
their design.

I do not know who came up first with that idea, but I thinks it´s braindead.
Extended attributes are now supported by several Unices, so why not them?
What´s the matter?