[X-Unix] So what is a dmg file?

[James Bucanek]

Lotas Smartman wrote on Thursday, January 22, 2004:
>actually a dmg file is something like a windows exe or a mac .app file. 

Actually, a dmg file is nothing like a Windows or Macintosh executable.

>its a runnable file. 

It certainly is not.  A dmg file contains no executable code.  If they did, they would just become a virus delivery tool.

>it auto mounts an image, and sometimes 
>uncompresses it too, and then you can use it.

These features are all provided by the operating system.  dmg files have a flag that can make them "Internet Enabled," which tells the DiskImages framework to decompress the contents, copy them to the desktop, then move the original dmg to the trash.  But none of these actions are taken by the dmg file itself.

>think of it as a self 
>extracting zip file, without the extracting. or a virtual cdrom drive.

A dmg file is very much like a ZIP, SIT, or tar file.  But it is not "Self extracting."

______________________________________________________
James Bucanek       <mailto:privatereply at gloaming.com>