.desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

Gullible Jones · 2010-12-13 05:07:19

It just struck me as I read about mailcap that .desktop files and the mime info cache are redundant. And mailcap is much simpler too, and seems to require less mucking around to e.g. open a file in a console app running in an xterm. For instance

audio/mpeg; mplayer %s; needsterminal

Bang, done.

So can someone tell me why the FD.O system with .desktop files is now the standard? Is it just that it makes it easier to create menus, or something like that? Is it a more friendly backend for GUIs? Other than letting you easily launch applications from your file manager, it doesn't seem to offer a whole lot of benefits...

Edit: Other than the fact that the default /etc/mailcap file for some distros kind of sucks. Using VLC's ASCII output by default? Seriously?

Last edited by Gullible Jones (2010-12-13 05:12:25)

thestinger · 2010-12-13 05:11:26

It's more automated, you have to make the mailcap file yourself to get specific preferences - people don't like editing config files.

Distros could ship a standard one, but then it's not based on what apps you have installed or what you want to use to open things.

GUIs would have to all implement some way to edit the mailcap file so you could change default apps easily and you would have to have the package manager edit it when you install stuff - I don't think that would be pretty

I guess you could use a bunch of tests and include every application that could open the file, but that's not so pretty either.

Last edited by thestinger (2010-12-13 05:18:09)

Gullible Jones · 2010-12-13 05:56:36

Ah... Debian seems to have a way of editing mailcap automatically, depending on what applications are installed. Something debconf does probably.

Not that the defaults don't suck, as I said... (VLC ASCII output, hello?)

thestinger · 2010-12-13 05:57:56

I think they have some sort of fallback script for anything without a program assigned to it which picks stuff with xdg

toofishes · 2010-12-13 05:59:09

I guess you missed all the translations and everything else that can go in .desktop files...

Gullible Jones · 2010-12-13 06:32:41

Yeah, actually I did apparently. I didn't realize that .desktop files handled language stuff... N/M.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-12-13 05:07:19

.desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

#2 2010-12-13 05:11:26

Re: .desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

#3 2010-12-13 05:56:36

Re: .desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

#4 2010-12-13 05:57:56

Re: .desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

#5 2010-12-13 05:59:09

Re: .desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

#6 2010-12-13 06:32:41

Re: .desktop files and mimeinfo.cache... Why?

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