(debian-policy.info)Multimedia handlers

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9.7 Multimedia handlers
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Media types (formerly known as MIME types, Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions, RFCs 2045-2049) is a mechanism for encoding files and data
streams and providing meta-information about them, in particular their
type and format (e.g.  ‘image/png’, ‘text/html’, ‘audio/ogg’).

Registration of media type handlers allows programs like mail user
agents and web browsers to invoke these handlers to view, edit or
display media types they don’t support directly.

There are two overlapping systems to associate media types to programs
which can handle them.  The `mailcap' system is found on a large number
of Unix systems.  The `FreeDesktop' system is aimed at Desktop
environments.  In Debian, FreeDesktop entries are automatically
translated in mailcap entries, therefore packages already using desktop
entries should not use the mailcap system directly.

Registration of media type handlers with desktop entries

Registration of media type handlers with mailcap entries

Providing media types to files