[Info-vax] OT: Rob Short: Operating System Evolution

[Wilm Boerhout]

VAXman- @SendSpamHere.ORG mentioned  on 3-1-2010 16:48:

[snip]

>>> You're saying that a .DOC is XML?  I thought it was proprietary M$ W(ei)RD.
>>>
>> You can use any extension you like and it has little or nothing to to 
>> with the file contents.  Programs will make assumptions about format and 
>> content based on the extension but don't let that limit your creativity!
> 
> Well, VMS doesn't and that brings this back to being a VMS thread.


With VMS, you can indeed $RUN any file, but the OS sort of assumes, no 
strike this anthropomorphic description, and instead use: ... but you 
get the most benefit out of a $RUN command if the file you $RUN is 
indeed an executable.

Anyway, you get the idea, it's the humans operating the computer that 
determine what actions are best used on what files. This goes for VMS 
and Windows and Linux alike. And both have sort of implied defaults for 
certains actions and/or file types. Difference is, "activating" a file 
object on Windows can trigger actions based on file type ("extension"), 
but that is by convention only, and is easily overruled by the user. And 
on Windows, you can re-associate the .docx extension with running the 
Unzip program on the file, if you think it is more useful. Likewise, on 
VMS, you can rename all your .EXE files to .TXT and then get stuck with 
$RUN foobar.TXT. Useful? Not around here.

/Wilm

O and BTW, .doc is not zipped XML, but .docx is.

O