musescore / musescore/MuseScore
MSCZ files listed as "MuseScore compressed backup score" in Linux file managers
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Description
Describe the bug
On Linux Debian at least, MuseScore files get listed as "MuseScore compressed backup score" in file managers, including the file dialogs within MuseScore, due to a wrong MIME type setting
To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- In MuseScore, File / Open
- Navigate if necessary to a folder containing MSCZ files
- See error: all MSCZ files listed as "MuseScore compressed backup score"
Expected behavior
File type should say "MuseScore score"
Screenshots

Platform information
- OS: Linux
Additional context
The problem appears to be incorrect info in the MIME type definition:
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/blob/master/build/Linux%2BBSD/musescore.xml.in
Both ".mscz" and ".mscz," (with comma) are givne the same MIME type: "x-musescore". Similarly for ".mscx" and ".mscx," which both get "x-musescore+xml". Apaprently, at least some implementations of MIME don't allow multiple entries within the same file to have the same MIME type, and the last one wins.
I think the solution is probably to change the MIME type of the backups to be "x-musescore-backup" and "x-musescore-backup+xml" or something like that. Or maybe someone more expert in MIME can comment or suggest a better solution. But I can confirm that making this change locally on my system fixes it for me.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Inspect build/Linux+BSD/musescore.xml.in, focusing on the MIME registrations for *.mscz, *.mscz,, *.mscx, and *.mscx,. Reproduce the label in a Linux file manager or MuseScore's File/Open dialog, then verify that score files are labeled "MuseScore score" and backup files use an appropriate distinct type.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- linux, xml
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 62/100