On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 07:34:33PM -0800, Roger wrote
Easy solution: ask the user whether to open the file, or just save it to disk.
So, the prompt saves my butt 5% of the time, the other 95% of the time I'm harassed by a prompt like in Windows.
IMO, configuring for the fewest clicks possible is best. And like you said, provide a file with an option to to link in external apps if the user so wishes. (ie mutt's $HOME/.mutt/mailcap is a good example)
Keeping a file type pointing to null or commented, gets default (download) action?
Can we have 3 options? 1) The "out-of-the-box" default is to ask what to do 2) Save to disk 3) Specify a helper application. Allow to specify parameters as required. And for number 3; puhleeeese don't "pull a Firefox" by de-referencing symlinks. For instance... $ ll /usr/bin/abiword lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 11 Sep 3 02:53 /usr/bin/abiword -> abiword-2.8 When you tell Firefox to use abiword for *.doc files, it de-references the symlink and uses /usr/bin/abiword-2.8. So a few weeks from now, an update upgrades me to abiword-2.9 and Firefox whines about not being able to find /usr/bin/abiword-2.8 when I click on a link to a *.doc file. See also https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=176486 Warning, some strong language from annoyed users. See especially comments 46, 47, and 48. -- Walter Dnes <waltdnes at waltdnes.org>