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This is why relying on file extensions is stupid

I have a file. It's a text file, with HTML markup.

It has no extension.

I can open it with BBEdit fine, because BBEdit is written by competent developers who understand that you can't always get what you want, and even if a file doesn't have a fucking extension, you should open it anyway, and use the file contents to guide you.

So, I decide that I want to open it in Safari, you know, to see what it looks like all rendered and pretty. Oh fuck no. Safari won't touch it. Why?

No filename extension.

Yeah. This is the most modern operating system on the fucking planet, and yet if you don't have a fucking period followed by random fucking text that safari may or may not know what to fucking do with on the end of a file name, a fucking web browser can't open a fucking text file.

This is what happens when you let unixtards make decisions about user interfaces and user interaction. You get this kind of idiocy. You want to know just how fucking stupid this complete and total reliance on the file name extension is?

If I add a .png or .jpg or .gif extension, the idiot browser tries to open it as a fucking image. Not even an attempt to validate the file contents or even READ THEM. Because it's not like anyone would ever LIE ABOUT A FILE EXTENSION TO GET YOU TO OPEN SOMETHING IN A PROGRAM IT SHOULDN'T!

Even fucking better, if you change the file extension to .txt, because this is not a full-on HTML file, but a text file using HTML markup, goddamned idiot browser is too fucking stupid to even TRY to render it. "Nope, nope, it's a text file, ignore all the html tags DUHHHHH". But put .html on the end, even though it really isn't an HTML file, and SUDDENLY SAFARI CAN OPEN IT.

Holy fucking shit, does someone have to start writing trojans that remove filename extensions in Snow, thereby crippling your ability to OPEN FUCKING FILES before Apple realizes just how fucking asinine this is? How fucking stupid is it for "the most advanced OS in the world" to actually be stupider than Windows here?

Let me be clear, Windows handles this better, because Windows allows for the "fuckit, open it anyway" option, that whatever Apple fuckstick who made this moronic decision didn't allow for. Of course, since, by default, you can't see if there's an extension or not, there's no immediate, obvious way to tell that the file is fine, it's your OS and applications that are fucking idiotic.

Way.To.Go. Apple. Way to be Adobe.

Fuckers.

Categories: Mac Matters

Posted by John C. Welch at 13:19 | Permalink

Comments

Warning for Notes users: The commenting system uses HTML.
I know this will be scary for some of you, especially Notes fans. However, open standards, rah-rah.
If you want to use less-than or greater-than signs, or other similar characters that HTML reserves,
you'll simply have to learn to do it the HTML way. Luckily, HTML is kind of popular, no matter what
your re-educators have told you, and you can easily find help on the intertubes.

I have a file. It's a text file, with HTML markup. \n\nIt has no extension. \n\nI can open it with BBEdit fine, because BBEdit is written by competent developers who understand that you can't always get what you want, and even if a file doesn't have a fucking extension, you should open it anyway, and use the file contents to guide you.\n\nSo, I decide that I want to open it in Safari, you know, to see what it looks like all rendered and pretty. Oh fuck no. Safari won't touch it. Why?\n\nNo filename extension.\n\nYeah. This is the most modern operating system on the fucking planet, and yet if you don't have a fucking period followed by random fucking text that safari may or may not know what to fucking do with on the end of a file name, a fucking web browser can't open a fucking text file.\n\nThis is what happens when you let unixtards make decisions about user interfaces and user interaction. You get this kind of idiocy. You want to know just how fucking stupid this complete and total reliance on the file name extension is?\n\nIf I add a .png or .jpg or .gif extension, the idiot browser tries to open it as a fucking image. Not even an attempt to validate the file contents or even READ THEM. Because it's not like anyone would ever LIE ABOUT A FILE EXTENSION TO GET YOU TO OPEN SOMETHING IN A PROGRAM IT SHOULDN'T!\n\nEven fucking better, if you change the file extension to .txt, because this is not a full-on HTML file, but a text file using HTML markup, goddamned idiot browser is too fucking stupid to even TRY to render it. \"Nope, nope, it's a text file, ignore all the html tags DUHHHHH\". But put .html on the end, even though it really isn't an HTML file, and SUDDENLY SAFARI CAN OPEN IT.\n\nHoly fucking shit, does someone have to start writing trojans that remove filename extensions in Snow, thereby crippling your ability to OPEN FUCKING FILES before Apple realizes just how fucking asinine this is? How fucking stupid is it for \"the most advanced OS in the world\" to actually be stupider than Windows here?\n\nLet me be clear, Windows handles this better, because Windows allows for the \"fuckit, open it anyway\" option, that whatever Apple fuckstick who made this moronic decision didn't allow for. Of course, since, by default, you can't see if there's an extension or not, there's no immediate, obvious way to tell that the file is fine, it's your OS and applications that are fucking idiotic.\n\nWay.To.Go. Apple. Way to be Adobe.\n\nFuckers.