Comment 37 for bug 115071

(In reply to comment #14)
> Plus it is trivial to list all available application by using freedesktop specification.
> [...]
> Or yeah use xdg-open!!!
> http://portland.freedesktop.org/xdg-utils-1.0/xdg-open.html

Whereas there is a FreeDesktop specification to retrieve the default application for a MIME type (xdg-open is one of the result), there is no FreeDesktop specification to retrieve the list of all registered applications for a MIME type (xdg-mime doesn't do that if you look at the man).

Considering the archives on <email address hidden>, you'll see that there is no consensus on this, particularly on the way to deal with priorities of one application above the others (the preferred order of applications to handle a MIME type if you prefer).

I send you to http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xdg/2008-January/thread.html and the thread titled 'Default Program | File Association' to see what I mean (followed in February). I also send you to the FreeDesktop specifications page to see that there is nothing on this in current drafts: http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/. Don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong.

To be clear, I'm not saying this bug could not be solved, I'm saying it could not easily be done in a cross desktop way until there is no FreeDesktop consensus on this point.