mime-type/application mapping spec, take #2

[Dave Cridland [Home]]

On Sun, 2003-06-29 at 00:24, David Faure wrote:
> For the generic handler suggestion, I suggest another solution:
> mimetype inheritance. Has this been added to the mimetype spec? I remember
> we talked a bit about it. It would allow to let all text-based mimetypes inherit
> from text/plain, which would also mean they inherit its handlers.

Is this different from defining a catch-call text/* handler, or even */*
handler? (*/* handlers are useful for, for instance, "Mail this
content".)

My only concerns are that:

1) while it's completely valid to "view" a text/html file in less, it's
a lot less useful for the average user. Do we assume that actions may be
overridden, then, such that "view" for an HTML file from text/html is
always superior than that from text/*?

2) "power" users, who probably make up 99% of the current market for
free desktops, will be perfectly happy to view the source of an HTML
page, and will probably intend to use their existing text/* viewer. As
such, references from one type to another might be useful, such that
text/html can say "To view the source, use the view action from text/*".
(Possibly using a more structured syntax.)

Dave.