Re: lynx-dev mime-types, server responsibility, etc..

[pg]

In a recent note, address@hidden said:

> Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 16:35:31 -0800 (PST)
> 
> He says that it's not the server's responsibility to set up the mime types,

He's wrong.  It's the server's responsibility.  Or, at least, (bowing to
the pedantic Ismael :-) the responsibility of the server's mime.types
file.

Beyond that, there's Microsophistry.  MSIE seems to prefer to
make decisions based on the filename suffix rather than the
Content-type header.  But that's not the way it was designed
to work.

> and apparently the browser can request an appropriate MIME encapsulation
> for files.
> 
Hmmm. There's a grain of truth in what he says.  If your .mailcap file
contains lines for "application/x-Shrinkit" and "application/x-Binary II"
(ugh!  whitespace!), Lynx will send an "Accept" command (this may be what
he means by "request") for those types.  Absent that "Accept",
the server may feel justified in defaulting to text/plain.

> Kind of interesting though that, for someone who's continuing to write Apple
> II software and running a web site for Apple II stuff, he won't modify the
> server end to make it easier to download files..
> 
You're too kind.

-- gil