Talk:File (command)

rename?
I think this article should be renamed to File (command). Comments? —Steve Summit (talk) 04:00, 18 March 2006 (UTC)


 * If you still remember: that's a good idea. Said: Rursus ☺ ★ 17:21, 25 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Agree--81.35.44.135 21:10, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * 3+ years with no action and no disagreement. I'm going to be bold and move it to "File (command)" as suggested. Mlibby (talk) 15:39, 19 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Done. I'm way too lazy/busy to go edit the 200+ "what links here" articles (or even to spend time determining which of those articles are worth editing), so I'll leave that to someone else to worry about (yeah, right), and in the meanwhile the redirect can just happily do its thing. Mlibby (talk) 15:44, 19 November 2009 (UTC)


 * If you'd tried even one case, you might have noticed that most of them are linked via the template at the bottom. I updated that, just now. Tedickey (talk) 21:41, 19 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Yay! And, nope, I probably wouldn't have noticed. Mlibby (talk) 22:49, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

file colors by type
In regards to this edit: (→Behaviour - Move the color "ls" example here from the "file (Unix)" page - it has nothing whatsoever to do with the "file" command.)


 * Guy, the 'ls' command uses the file's type to determine the color. The file command shows the file's type. So it is completely relevent to the this file article. I wish you would put it back. --Unixguy 14:09, 16 May 2006 (UTC)


 * The mere fact that GNU ls happens to look at a file's filename extension to determine the file's type, as well as its Unix file type, if it's coloring its output, and that file looks at the file contents, in addition to the Unix file type, to determine the file's type, does not mean that ls is at all relevant to file. Konqueror also looks at a file's contents to determine its type; does it also belong on the file page? Guy Harris 17:36, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
 * You are absolutely right. I just added a few more examples. Thanks for the explanation. --Unixguy 12:30, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Regarding merger with libmagic
While libmagic is a library which allows programmes to do file type determination (as I understand it) and file is a programme which does just that, the two are at most relevant to one-another in the same way that GNU ls using libmagic(?) to help determine what colour a filename should have is relevant to file -- I do not recommend a merger. Besides, there isn't really anything in libmagic to merge into the file page (yet). FrederikHertzum (talk) 22:31, 30 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I absolutely agree. I'll do the merge shortly. Stuartyeates (talk) 02:56, 28 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Given the available sources, it seems that the comment about libmagic should be moved into a section such as "Other implementations", and that there's insufficient reason for leaving it in the lede. TEDickey (talk) 20:18, 28 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Other implementations seems to be something of a misnomer, since the implementers coincide. For example, both packages   and   in the Debian distribution refer to the same homepage www.darwinsys.com.  The only sentence in that section is challenged by a fact template.  I'll move that stuff to a new subsection of Usage, if someone won't stop me now. ale (talk) 10:18, 1 January 2013 (UTC)


 * I've renamed the "Other implementations" section to "Libmagic API", and changed it to note that, as of the 4.0 release of the Darwin/Zoulas version of file, it puts the core of file into libmagic and implements <tt>file</tt> atop that library. If you want to change the name of the section and/or further edit it, go ahead. Guy Harris (talk) 07:19, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

Home Page disappeared?
I am not the only person to note that the "homepage for version of file used in major BSD and Linux distributions" referenced under "External Links — Other" has vanished. It would be great if someone who understands what is going on could update this page accordingly.

Meanwhile a recent copy (2 March 2013) of the home page is archived at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.darwinsys.com/file/.

MarcMFresko (talk) 10:13, 4 April 2013 (UTC)


 * I just did. (darwinsys.com is responding to HTTP requests again.) Guy Harris (talk) 20:32, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

What the hell is "-s"?
In the "Usage" section, this article specifies the valid flags of -M, -m, -d, -h, -L, and -i. Then, in the "Examples" section, the only flag used is -s, which is not even listed! What the hell is -s?! --Cogniac (talk) 15:22, 22 October 2013 (UTC)


 * It's listed in the links to manpages at the bottom of the topic. TEDickey (talk) 00:44, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Grammar error
"if the file cannot be read, its status undetermined, or its type undetermined, file will indicate that the file was processed and its type was undetermined." This isn't grammatical, but I can't fix it because the intended meaning isn't clear to me. 31.50.70.172 (talk) 07:50, 19 December 2014 (UTC)


 * I've clarified it a bit. Let me know if you find this addition clearer.
 * peterl (talk) 22:30, 19 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Looks good; thanks. 31.50.70.172 (talk) 02:59, 20 December 2014 (UTC)