29 Aug
2006
29 Aug
'06
1:49 p.m.
Don wrote:
Andy Holt wrote:
Note my point that the OS shouldn't *care* (IMHO) about the type.
E.g., nowadays, this information is typically used by The Desktop.
So, why can't The Desktop assume responsibility for maintaining it?
Using whatever mechanisms *it* deems efficient.
What about stuff like ODS-2, in which the filesystem knows about file
structure, and can therefore perform record-oriented operations on the
data in the file?
The functionality isn't mandatory, but it's powerful.
Peace... Sridhar
But, none
of this answers the query of "Why file type information
has migrated into the file name"... :> (persistent, eh? :>)
Probably because in RT-11/CPM/DOS/(most unix) there is/was no where
else to
keep it (except within the main body of the file itself which would then
mean that any application that touched the file would have to be aware of
it).