Sublime text started adding a “.s” to new files

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Bug behavior: unwanted “.s” and other suffixes on save

  • Multiple users report macOS Sequoia’s save dialog appending extra extensions, often “.s”, when saving files in Sublime Text, VS Code, Zed, and even TextEdit.
  • It particularly affects “non‑standard” or unregistered extensions (e.g., foo.html.haml → .h, database.sql → .sql.s, test.foo → .foo.f).
  • The extension-change warning dialog misidentifies what the user typed (e.g., treats .asm as .as).
  • Behavior appears system‑wide via NSSavePanel, not specific to a single editor.

Suspected root cause

  • Consensus that this is a macOS bug, not an intentional feature.
  • Theories focus on:
    • Partial/substring matching of extensions instead of full matches.
    • A regression in the logic that infers or auto-adds extensions when apps allow “any file type”.
    • Possibly a regex or matching change that dropped full‑match anchors.
  • Some note Apple is deprecating broader access to type metadata, which may have created edge cases.
  • Case‑sensitive filesystems impact is raised but not answered (unclear).

Critique of Apple QA and platform direction

  • Many express frustration that such a basic, decades-old UI behavior could ship broken, questioning Apple’s QA and test coverage.
  • Several argue old, “stable” code often lacks tests and only gets coverage after breaking.
  • Broader pattern of regressions complained about:
    • Safari networking bug returning “No space left on device”.
    • Emoji “suggestion” UX in macOS/iOS that replaces prior words unpredictably.
    • Xcode’s new autocomplete that “hallucinates” methods and parameters.
    • Window tiling shortcuts tied to the Fn/Globe key, hard to disable and conflicting with third‑party tilers.
    • Mail’s special handling of Gmail/OAuth flows being opaque and annoying.
  • Some worry Apple prioritizes new features and monetization over core reliability and developer UX.

Workarounds, comparisons, and alternatives

  • No solid macOS-side workaround beyond avoiding Sequoia; Windows’ quote‑filename trick does not help on macOS.
  • A few users say issues like this push them toward Linux; discussion branches into Debian vs Arch stability and package management.
  • Minor side notes compare this to other “helpful” systems that mutate filenames (Python shelve, Windows save dialogs).