In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> you write: > Basically what you can do is create a directory called /etc/binfmt_misc and >put a bunch of files in it; each file should be a series of lines where each >line is a directive for the binfmt_misc registration file in /proc. So the >incantation for Java is: >:Java:M::\xca\xfe\xba\xbe::/usr/bin/javawrapper: > (assuming that /usr/bin/javawrapper does something sensible), and for JPEG >(yes, this is a really dumb usage of binfmt_misc, but it's the only other > magic number I could come up with offhand): > >:JPEG:M::0xffd8::/usr/X11R6/bin/display: >:JPEG-JFIF:M::JFIF::/usr/X11R6/bin/display: >:JPEG-HSI:M::hsi1::/usr/X11R6/bin/display: > > Comments are also supported (by beginning a line with '#') > > Packages such as Wine, Kaffe, dosemu, and perhaps Frotz would drop a file >into this directory announcing their support of a binary format. The files >wouldn't actually be interpreted unless this init.d script is installed; I >assume that someone is going to claim this is a security hazard, so I thought >I'd point that out :P
I have two comments: 1. Where would you install the files into this directory? Ideally, IMHO, it would be possible to directly embed the config file into the deb file, with the full pathname under /etc/bin_fmt. However, in this case, what would happen with duplicates? eg what will happen when many packages that provide Java, all provide their own (possibly different) entry under /etc/bin_fmt? 2. Suggestion: Would it be possible to somehow integrate this with /etc/mailcap, which already has good support in packages? There are different ways you could do this, eg have in the config file lines that look like: :Java:M::\xca\xfe\xba\xbe::application/x-java: :JPEG:M::0xffd8::image/jpeg: :JPEG-JFIF:M::JFIF::image/jpeg: :JPEG-HSI:M::hsi1::image/jpeg: Where the last field is replaced with the appropriate command line from the /etc/mailcap file. Not that there currently is a mailcap entry (at least on my slink system) for java... This file could potentially be used for more applications then just the kernel - any program that wants to map the file to a MIME type. (Apache already does this - is this any better? I suspect Apache's is hardcoded, but not sure). I think that this could be done with similar structure as originally proposed. -- Brian May <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
