at Friday, May 07, 1999 4:35 AM Simon St.Laurent wrote:
[snip]
I think maybe we should go back to a very simple question:
what are MIME types for?
I thought at one point that they were to describe file types.
If that is indeed the case, it might be a good idea to describe file types
as
accurately and completely as possible.
[snip]
Agreed. But I think "describe file types as accurately and completely as
possible" should refer ONLY to the format of the content of the "file",
NOT to possible usages of that content.
We will destroy the portability of XML, if media types like
xml/my-application are allowed; as soon as something can be labeled as
e.g. xml/hugo the owner of application hugo will feel free to add
hugo-specific
features to XML.
I still think that a top-level media type "xml" with application-specific
subtypes is an attempt to solve the open schema issues at a wrong place.
All the best,
Paul
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Paul Langer PL(_at_)softwareag(_dot_)com
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