|
|
| Author |
Message |
bartlett
|
|
The ftp item
| 
Jan 10 04:32 UTC 1994 |
This is where we'll talk about ftp. Ask questions, share interesting ftp
sites, inquire where one might find specific things.
|
| 34 responses total. |
bartlett
|
|
response 1 of 34:
|
Jan 10 04:43 UTC 1994 |
For those who don't know, ftp (file transfer protocol) is a protocol for the
transferring of files from one system to another. In order to use it, you
must know the name or numeric address of another system that runs an ftp
client.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 2 of 34:
|
Jan 10 06:08 UTC 1994 |
If you don't have it, get Fetch. You dont' need a comm program with Telnet
to use it. The only problem I've found with Fetch, is that it has problems
with generic binary files (as opposed to WORD, or Macbinary, files).
|
kaplan
|
|
response 3 of 34:
|
Jan 10 19:04 UTC 1994 |
OK, rcurl, I'll bite. What is Fetch? What hardware do you need to use it?
Where does it come from? Why do you like it?
|
kaplan
|
|
response 4 of 34:
|
Jan 10 19:06 UTC 1994 |
And this is probably the place to talk about that gizmo which helps find
stuff that's available for ftp, Archie. Can anyone explain what archie
is and how to use it?
|
carl
|
|
response 5 of 34:
|
Jan 10 19:53 UTC 1994 |
I've used archie a few times and I'm not sure that I understand it.
Archie is supposed to be a searchable database of files available by
ftp. I know that it works for finding where a specific file is
available. It may list several places where it is stored, and for each
it will list the system name, the pathname and the directory.
I was under the impression that archie could search for files by type
(as opposed to knowing the filename). That's what I'm not sure of.
|
srw
|
|
response 6 of 34:
|
Jan 11 06:26 UTC 1994 |
Re #2,3:
Fetch is an ftp client for Macintosh. If you have a PC you can't use it.
Mac users probably all know that one of the best archives in the
world for Macintosh freeware and shareware is right here in Ann
Arbor at U of M. You can ftp to mac.archive.umich.edu .
I almost never do so from grex though, for the following reasons:
(1) After I ftp the file to grex over the internet link at whatever
fraction of its 14.4k that is my share, I still have to download the
program to my mac at 2400 baud.
(2) there is a better alternative. Anyone with a Mac can obtain a
legal copy of MacTCP somehow ($79 from apple, but much less if bought
bundled with a comms program or Adam Engst's book) and then get
MacPPP (which is free) and call up Merit and ftp that way.
It's 9600 baud and open to the public and deliver's the file
right to your mac non-stop.
Also it leaves a Grex phone line available for someone else. :-)
Now back to the wonders of ftp-
If you have to ftp outside of Michnet, as I sometimes do when I
get files from ftp.apple.com, I can do so via Grex. It's slow,
but it's better than nothing. MacPPP is useless for this puprpose
unless you are a UM student or staff or have MichNet authorization.
There's a lot of interesting stuff on ftp.apple.com for Mac
developers that Apple will not allow to be distributed from any other
site (or else U of M would have it).
|
rcurl
|
|
response 7 of 34:
|
Jan 11 16:45 UTC 1994 |
Steve described Fetch and where to get it locally. It was the first
"easy ftp" application I learned about, having done all the path stuff
and launching ftp, the old hard way. Fetch (and others) negotiate
signon (anonymous) and the path automatically. I've since implemented
the Versaterm FTP Client Tool, and VT FTP Client, and Versaterm-Link,
all of which have *slightly different* FTP interfaces (arrgghh!), but
much like Fetch. VT FTP will at least download .zip and .exe files,
which I have not been able to get Fetch to do over MacPPP.
|
bartlett
|
|
response 8 of 34:
|
Jan 11 18:32 UTC 1994 |
Re: Archie, as near as I can determine, Archie will *only* perform exact
file-name (plus wildcarding) searches. For instance, a search on dsz*.*
returns a list of all files that begin with dsz. One cannot perform
key-word or sounds-like searches using Archie. I've been trying to find out
how to do so. So far, Veronica has proven the most useful for this
application, though that's not what it is designed to do.
|
mju
|
|
response 9 of 34:
|
Jan 18 04:10 UTC 1994 |
Archie can actually do several kinds of searches; it has exact keyword
searches, substring (case-sensitive and -insensitive), and regexp
searches. Sounds-like searches are still not possible, but might be
being worked on. BTW, Grex has an Archie client installed now,
so you don't have to telnet to an Archie server to do searches.
Try "man archie" for more information.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 10 of 34:
|
Jan 29 06:23 UTC 1994 |
I started a separate Item 12 on archie, since it is a separate client
from ftp, although it serves ftp. It seems to me that long lists of
ftp sites are somewhat irrelevent, with archie available. On the other
hand, anonymous ftp (often) doesn't require authentication, while I
have the impression that archie does (doesn't it?).
|
srw
|
|
response 11 of 34:
|
Jan 29 06:41 UTC 1994 |
Gee I didn't think so. I haven't used it (yet) though.
|
remmers
|
|
response 12 of 34:
|
Jan 29 13:10 UTC 1994 |
I've never known an archie server that did.
|
kaplan
|
|
response 13 of 34:
|
Jan 29 14:25 UTC 1994 |
I think a list of ftp sites is valuable because it does not tie up the net
with extra archie traffic. Also, I haven't used archie, but I assume you
can't use archie to search for things you don't know exist. You can,
however, browse the list to find things beyond your wildest dreams.
|
remmers
|
|
response 14 of 34:
|
Jan 29 20:09 UTC 1994 |
Well, I suppose you could do a regular expression archie search that
would list everything whatsoever that archie knows about, but that's
not recommended.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 15 of 34:
|
Jan 29 22:18 UTC 1994 |
My question about authentication in #10 was partly a moment of temporary
(!?) confusion. Anonymous ftp and archie sites don't require authentication
if you telnet to them, but if you run an ftp or archie client you have
to authenticate onto Internet. There was a warning on archie.sura.net
that interactive sessions "may be limited" - i.e., the end of telnet
access - which would require that everyone run a client, and hence have
Internet authentication. I use MacPPP to a MichNet NAS because I have
a MichNet ID. Others now just return (say) mac.archives.umich.edu at
the MichNet Which Host? prompt, and engage in an interactive ftp. That
is what's time may be limited.
|
kaplan
|
|
response 16 of 34:
|
Mar 2 18:54 UTC 1994 |
The following comes from the now defunct item 2.
#5 of 9: by Greg Cronau (gregc) on Thu, Feb 10, 1994 (09:35):
Just FYI, there is a new ftp client program called ncftp. Check it out.
It has alot of nice features and appears to be superior to the standard ftp.
#6 of 9: by John H. Remmers (remmers) on Thu, Feb 10, 1994 (20:51):
Oh goodie. I love superior stuff!
|
rcurl
|
|
response 17 of 34:
|
Mar 26 07:41 UTC 1994 |
Fetch 2.1.2 is out. I didn't immediately notice anything different in
its GUI - though I hope they fixed that binary download problem - but
it came with a folder of 74 bookmarks, for ftp sites around the world.
There's quite a variety of "speciality" sites includes, as well as the
standbys (e.g., maue).
|
srw
|
|
response 18 of 34:
|
Mar 28 02:00 UTC 1994 |
I saw that new fetch appeared on the U of M archive. I haven't had time
to play with it though.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 19 of 34:
|
Mar 28 05:07 UTC 1994 |
Some of the bookmark sites aren't accessible by anonymous ftp - or by
my trying to guess an ID. e.g., FAQS. Incidentally, about a dozen of
the bookmarks are maue mirrors around the world.
|
y
|
|
response 20 of 34:
|
Apr 27 06:30 UTC 1994 |
All that is nice and dandy (Not to sound unpleased) But how about some
addresses of all those ftp sights you are talking about ;)
|
rcurl
|
|
response 21 of 34:
|
Apr 27 14:41 UTC 1994 |
Look for mac.ftp.list in newsgroup comp.sys.mac.misc{
|
rcurl
|
|
response 22 of 34:
|
Apr 28 15:30 UTC 1994 |
Well, I couldn't find mac.ftp.list at comp.sys.mac.misc, but the newsgroup
faq led me to ftp to rtfm.mit.edu, in /pub/usenet/news.answers/ftp-list.
This directory contains the file faq and the directory /sitelist, where
there are 8 or so lists of "all known" ftp sites, with descriptions of
each. Try it (if you've got the memory to download to). I only ftp'd
part1 (60K), which covers A to C.
|
kaplan
|
|
response 23 of 34:
|
Apr 30 01:01 UTC 1994 |
is that news.answers/ftp-list the same as the ftp list in /usr/local/inet
right here on grex? If so, use the local copies rahter than putting
additional strain on the link and disk. If not, please let me know
if you downloaded the most recent ftp-list to grex so I can put it in
there for everyone to use.
|
rcurl
|
|
response 24 of 34:
|
Apr 30 05:03 UTC 1994 |
I'll have to check. How do I read that .gz file (time to learn something
new!). I do all my ftp'ing via a direct MacPPP-NAS-MichNet link, but
I didn't think that I was encouraging people to use the grex link. The
/ftp-list files amount to 500K or so. Is that what we have here? Say,
can I read that file through !lynx? I haven't been looking around what
we have here accessible through !lynx.
|