banned file types

[Noel Jones]

On 10/21/2014 12:08 PM, Deeztek Support wrote:
> 
>>
>> ... a somewhat complex example since the file(1) output covers
>> multiple file types.
>>
>>
> 
> Awesome.
> 
> Just curious, why wouldn't amavis not use the file(1) utility with
> the -i switch that way you would get output like the following?
> 
> application/vnd.ms-excel  --> excel file
> application/x-rar  --> rar file
> application/octet-stream  --> exe file
> 
> etc etc.
> 
> Maybe it would be a monumental task maintaining every possible type
> in the map_full_type_to_short_type_re or another reason?
> 
> 
> 

I cannot speak authoritatively on design decisions, since I'm not
the author.

IIRC the file(1) -i output is (historically has been?) somewhat
inconsistent and often doesn't match the mime type declared in an
email message, easily leading to confusion.  The descriptive text is
more consistent and doesn't change much from version to version of
file(1).  This also makes the user interface -- blocking familiar
file extensions -- consistent and easier to understand.




  -- Noel Jones