Re: lynx-dev Lynx problems

[Jacob Poon]

On Wed, 29 Apr 1998, Jason F. McBrayer wrote:

> How is Lynx supposed to know the file type of an ftp file?  Ftp
> doesn't know from MIME.  It might well be better to offer something
> like "D)ownload, V)iew, or C)ancel" on ftp URLs, but remember that you
> have to do that /for all ftp URLs/ in all circumstances.  Really, you

For all FTP URLs in all circumstances?  What about entering a FTP
directory?  You don't want to download a directory 99% of the time, do
you?

> ought to use an ftp client for fetching ftp files for which you know
> the location, or at worst wget.

That's my complain comes from.  Lynx assumes file types for all ftp
accesses even though FTP can't handle MIME.  I am not complaining about
every FTP file I download, just the ones with unknown extensions.  But
hey, even if the 'D)ownload, V)iew, C)ancel' shows up whenever I choose a
FTP _file_, it is still a good idea for Lynx to implement ftp retrieval
that way instead of assuming an unknown extension is plain/text by an
un-configurable default.  The current Lynx behaviour is risky, and at
worst disasterous. 

Speaking of which, Geocities accounts forbid uploading or renaming any
file with/to unknown extensions, whether you upload it through a web
browser or a ftp client.  It seems the MSIE's plague of automatic filename
extension handling is really, really popular.