On 27/01/2008, Forest Bond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi, > > On Sun, Jan 27, 2008 at 04:10:58PM +0000, Fergal Daly wrote: > > On 27/01/2008, Forest Bond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Sun, Jan 27, 2008 at 02:01:56AM +0000, Fergal Daly wrote: > > > > Seems like you could achieve much the same thing by having command > > > > (let's call it "o" for open so it's nice and short) that checks the > > > > mime-type of it's argument and opens it according to user preferences. > > > > > > This already exists. It's called "see", "edit", etc... > > > > > > Honestly, a whole shell to get functionality that's been around for how > > > long...? > > > > Absolutely. > > [...] > > > "open" seems to be the obvious choice of name for such a tool but for > > me, it's a symlink to openvt. Is there a good reason for openvt to be > > holding this valuable name or is it just historical. The fact that > > it's a symlink makes me think that someone has already tried to free > > up "open". Maybe that could be completed and a discoverable, > > alternatives-based "open" command could take it's place, > > Are you advocating the creation of a program called "open"?
No, I said "alternatives-based". That is, using the Debian alternatives system to provide access to one preferred tool from amongst many similar tools. > Perhaps I was not clear before. What you are looking for already exists, and > it > is called "see" (or, perhaps more appropriately, "edit"). These tools pull > data > from mailcap. You were perfectly clear, however there is definitely some miscommunication. In my last mail _I_ mentioned that see reads from mailcap and now for some reason you are explaining exactly that to me (it was in the part you snipped). So let me rephrase my points 1 there are multiple tools which do roughly the same thing - see, gnome-open and probably k-something-or-other and no unified location for preferences for these tools 2 multiple tools which do roughly the same thing is no problem 3 multiple locations for the same preferences is a bad thing and while sometimes necessary, should be avoided where possible 4 if you don't already know the name of the tool, you are unlikely to be able to find it 5 "open" seems to be the obvious name for such a tool. It was the first thing I tried, it's what's left when you remove "gnome-" from "gnome-open", it's the verb that appears under every File menu I've ever seen. It seems quite discoverable. "edit" is also quite discoverable however if you're just trying to open something to see it, you're unlikely to try "edit" 6 open is currently a symlink to /usr/bin/openvt - the fact that it's a symlink and that "man open" talks about "openvt" not "open" makes me thing that it's ripe for reclamation. So I am suggesting that Ubuntu would be improved by reclaiming /usr/bin/open from the console-tools package and replacing it with an alternatives-based link to a file opener, on Ubuntu -gnome-open, on Kubuntu - k-something etc etc. Ideally they would all have the same interface but even without that it would be good. It would also be great to have a central mime-type -> action database. I think that's part of freedesktop but unless see and edit pay attention to it, the problem is not fully solved, F > If you want it called "open", how about: > > alias open=see > > BTW, what's with the huge CC list? I trimmed it. I doubt very much that the > entire human race is interested in this discussion. > > -Forest > -- > Forest Bond > http://www.alittletooquiet.net > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQFHnLZARO4fQQdv5AwRAu2yAJ9t67XTXAcBHvWMGXX/l/lEOjM3eACghMER > uwwoEmJUVtH7eACayoR85CE= > =aXho > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
