Hello, >> > Dumb question: How about integrating it "officially" in the Macpython >> > distribution, so that all file objects on MacOS X.4 automatically have >> > an xattr dict? >> >> Are these functions in any way standard (eg. does FreeBSD have >> them?). If so, they should probably be detected at configure time.
> I don't believe FreeBSD has them, but the SELinux project has them > for ACLs, though they are poorly documented. They may also exist in > other file systems, such as ReiserFS. Also, the concept exists on > Solaris as well. Basically _every_ "modern" file system has extended attributes. > The trick is that on Solaris and SELinux they're purely an ACL issue > as far as I know. The irony is that it seems that currently _no_ OS that supports extended attributes allows the user to actually use them. Because there's no UI. > I believe Tiger is the first OS to fully deploy an abstract > meta-data infrastructure in the FS. Most definitely not. In fact MacOS X actually seems to be (one of) the last OSes which supports user-definable extended attributes. As I've been told, OS/400 had even a real "filebase" including relations etc. for decades. VMS had EAs for decades as well. XFS is probably th eoldest unix filesystem with EAs. OS/2's HPFS has them since it existed etc... BeOS was/is apparently the only OS that allowed end user to actually use extended attributes. Through its "Tracker". While MacOS X.4 doesn't (provide a UI to user-defined extended attributes). Still. BTW: How many years after Jobs generated all hype bubbles to drag Amelio away from Be, hype bubbles which extremely ressembled those that MS created around "Chicago" in order to FUD users and companies away from OS/2...? It's been so long ago I can't even remember it. >> Another question is if empty xattr dicts should appear on platforms >> with no support for them. > Yes, they should appear empty, and I would imagine, throw an > Exception on any attempt to set them. Exactly. And, imho, the API (a dict) should be identical on all platforms that support EAs, not just on MacOS X. Best regards Wolfgang Keller -- P.S.: My From-address is correct _______________________________________________ Pythonmac-SIG maillist - Pythonmac-SIG@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonmac-sig
