Good grief...

[ffutures]

Photo file names at Wikimedia Commons are case sensitive. I accidentally saved one with the extension .JPG instead of .jpg and it has to be capitalised in anything that links to it!

Yes, I know this is true of web sites generally, but you have to use their site to upload, WHY don't they force lower case for the file extension?

Comments

[pengshui-master.livejournal.com]

Umm, because that would cause information loss. You lose at least 1 bit per character of the filename.

It's a Windows/posix thing really, posix systems (eg, Linux and I think MacOs) have case-sensitive filesystem , whereas Windows is case-insensitive (but case preserving). Since you don't know what case somebody has written the links in you cant be sure that squishing the case is the right thing.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

This is only a problem when uploading the files, surely?

What I'm talking about is AFTER it's uploaded, when Wikimedia prompts you for a file name, and goes with whatever you type in, whether it's upper or lower case or (presumably) a mix of both.

[pengshui-master.livejournal.com]

I don't think it makes a difference when or where the case is munged.

Except that on the other hand it should possibly force the case to that of a file that exists (rather than upper/lower) in that particular instance.

[turol.livejournal.com]

Oh yes it does.

Lower/uppercasing text correctly is pretty damn hard. (http://zwitserloot.com/2010/08/04/case-insensitive-comparison-a-lot-more-complicated-than-you-might-think/)

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Because the Nanny State does not extend to the Internet?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yet they insist that my totally reasonable file name of DCF00065.JPG has to be changed...