[Desktop_architects] Firefox and mime type handling is gconf specific :-(

[sjvn]

On Mon, 2008-06-30 at 17:02 -0700, Dan Kegel wrote:
> Overheard at work:
> "It looks like Firefox 3 made the decision to query the OS for mime /
> url handling. 

Correct. It seemed the sensible thing to do I was told a few weeks back,
and I agreed.  

> For instance, if we set the default picasa:// url
> handler in GConf, then Firefox 3 knows what to do. The problem is,
> GConf is Firefox's concept of "the OS" on Unix. (they say KDE didn't
> help with integration and prefer Konqueror anyway)

Heh. Don't tell the KDE 4 crew that. ;-)

> There's going to be some users with only KDE or running XFCE or what
> not, who are out of luck because they don't have GConf."
> 
> Gaah.  Is there a single underlying mime type database that both gnome and kde
> can refer to?

It's time, past time really, to define one. It shouldn't be at a level
below the desktops. We want something that any desktop interface can
access. Considering how fundamental mime/url is for any Internet-enabled
operating system, it strikes that someone, somewhere must have already
done some work on this.

Steven
-- 
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Editor in Chief
Practical Technology 
http://www.practical-tech.com