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A comment on The structure of the special type of DOS files called directories (1998). Parent comment

Re:The structure of the special type of DOS files called dir... by reaperducer on Monday February 25, 2019 @11:53AM (#19246954)
Yep. The extension was the only way a program knew what type of data to expect from a file.

There was no space on a disk for metadata. You couldn't put metadata on a tape. There wasn't enough memory in the computer for the OS to determine a file type by reading a header, and even if there was, some operating systems had their DOS in ROM, so that would mean never adding any more file types (I'm looking at you, CBM PRG, USR, SEQ, REL files!).

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Re:The structure of the special type of DOS files called dir... by anyfoo on Monday February 25, 2019 @02:45PM (#19248721)
Hah, at the time, “USR” files were the biggest mystery to me. I knew PRG, SEQ and REL, but this „custom“ file type seemed very special.
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Re:The structure of the special type of DOS files called dir... by ddingus on Monday February 25, 2019 @02:48PM (#19248743)
Apple had a file type and nice, long names.
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