title: How does the Linux command `file` recognize the encoding of my files?
body: <p>How does the Linux command <code>file</code> recognize the encoding of my files?</p>
  
  <pre><code>zell@ubuntu:~$ file examples.desktop 
  examples.desktop: UTF-8 Unicode text
  
  zell@ubuntu:~$ file /etc/services 
  /etc/services: ASCII text
  </code></pre>