If we execute the file command against /var/log/messages then why do we see "/var/log/messages: ASCII Pascal program text"?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • When I execute the file command for /var/log/messages file I see it as ASCII Pascal program text :-
[root@server ~]# file /var/log/messages
/var/log/messages: ASCII Pascal program text
  • What is the standard file type? Isn't it should be :-
[root@some-other-server ~]# file /var/log/messages
/var/log/messages: ASCII English text

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • file command

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