Stupid simple way of detecting file encoding

gistfile1.rb

def detect_encoding file
  result = `file --mime-encoding #{file}`
  _, encoding = result.split
  if File.exists? file
   return encoding unless encoding.nil? || encoding.empty?
  end
end

Emphasis on stupid... If you're looking for something good, look at https://github.com/brianmario/charlock_holmes