

FTP is 40 years old - pwg
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2011/04/15/ftp-is-40-years-old/1

======
zdw
And can't go away soon enough.

Not NAT friendy. Needs special workarounds on firewalls. Not IPv6 friendly.
Sends everything in the clear. No compression support. Different binary and
text transfer modes. All the "fixes" to it are hacks that cause
interoperability issues.

FTP is the fax machine of the internet. People still use it, but anyone with a
clue hates it.

~~~
keyle
It will eventually go away. Get hosting these days, such as cloud, they give
you ftp over ssh and not traditional ftp (port 21). That's how it will fade.

I do love FTP though. But then again, I love holding a floppy in my hand too.
It feels like you're holding real data.

~~~
someone_here
SFTP is not FTP over SSH:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSH_File_Transfer_Protocol>

------
jshharlow
Comparing its security to P2P seems odd. Last time I checked FTP used plain-
text passwords :-/

------
Dobbs
FTP is an abomination and SMTP is not a file transfer protocol. I wish people
would use SFTP.

The biggest problem is I've yet to find a SFTP server that isn't part of a SSH
service. I'd like a nice pure SFTP server.

~~~
zdw
SFTP is SSH based - the full name is "SSH File Transfer Protocol" :
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSH_File_Transfer_Protocol>

You can restrict an account to only SCP/SFTP with this shell:
<http://www.pizzashack.org/rssh/>

~~~
Dobbs
Yes I'm well aware that sftp is a ftp style protocol over ssh.

What I want is a SFTP server that focuses on just the ftp part. With easy
chrooting, virtual users, that sort of stuff.

I recently setup a new ftp/sftp server. Chrooting SFTP is a pain in the ass.
Chrooting SFTP while still allowing some accounts to also be chrooted FTP is
an even bigger pain in the ass.

In addition from everything I hear your better off using sftp-subsystem over
rssh.

~~~
moe
ProFTPd has a sftp module that works very well.

Sadly ProFTPd also has a very bad security track-record, don't use it for a
public ftp.

------
sbierwagen

      Frank Kenney, vice president of global strategy for US managed file 
      transfer company Ipswitch, told us that the protocol we know as FTP 
      today is ‘a far cry from when Abhay Bushan, a student at MIT, wrote 
      the original specifications for FTP.’
    

And how is a PR quote from a stuffed shirt at all relevant to the story? Who
is this chump? Why are they pulling asinine quotes from him?

    
    
      You can find Ipswitch at stand H70 of the Infosecurity Europe 2011 
      show in Earl’s Court, London from 19 to 21 April.
    

Ah.

