On Thursday 29 March 2001 09:38, Andy Stoffel wrote:
> Ned Konz wrote:
> > * I don't need to know your file extension (.html) (that's what MIME
> > Content-type headers are for!)
>
> [... continuing off-topic ...]
> Unfortunately, there is a well known web browser that is known
> to use file extensions INSTEAD OF Content-type headers.
> (This isn't just urban legend. I work with an operating system
> on a daily basis (OpenVMS [the 'Open' is silent]) that runs
> headlong into this issue. (e.g. Assorted versions of
> Internet Explorer ASSUME the anything ending in .com
> is a binary image. Oops.... on VMS they are ASCII DCL
> command files (the DOS equivalent being a .BAT) and
> if I attempted to use IE to look at one of these it
> attempts to download it. I don't use Scamper on a
> regular basis so I'm not aware of how IT handles such
> things.)

This is an excellent reason not to use file extensions AT ALL: it forces the 
browser to use the MIME types!

It's really just programmer laziness that makes us see URL's as a mirror of 
file systems, anyway... I'd rather not know how you've organized your web 
server's file system. Just give me a clean, unchanging URI space that I can 
bookmark. Free of implementation details (.html/.gif/.jpg extensions, server 
names, .cgi/.jsp, etc.).

-- 
Ned Konz
currently: Stanwood, WA
email:     ned at bike-nomad.com
homepage:  http://bike-nomad.com