Re: Netscape 4.0 press release at their server

Daniel Quinlan (quinlan@proton.pathname.com)
Sat, 19 Oct 1996 12:52:26 -0400 (EDT)

> Nothing is wrong with UNIX magic numbers as an implementation of file
> typing, except that they are weakly integrated - they don't exist for
> many kinds of files, there is no registry or namespace allocation
> convention (actually, there is, or was, though I don't know how widely
> known it is or who is doing it now that AT&T no longer owns UNIX), there
> is no way to manipulate them, etc.
>
> Good point...sounds like a case for an RFC here.

You're right. This sounds like a worthy project -- perhaps I'll start a
Magic Number Registry and float an RFC.

Perhaps there ought to be a File Extension Registry as well?

(I already maintain the master terminfo/termcap files, so I have experience
with this kind of project.)

-- 
	<a href="http://www.ccil.org/~esr/home.html">Eric S. Raymond</a>