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Date:      Wed, 26 Jan 2022 11:10:49 -0800
From:      Dave Hayes <dave@jetcafe.org>
To:        ports@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: [HEADSUP] Deprecation of the ftp support in pkg
Message-ID:  <20220126111049.270f19a2@bigus.dream-tech.com>
In-Reply-To: <dbf7fd4428d7baf4afd6251e39f2bc47@bsdforge.com>
References:  <ffb8e8ea3724745fe8d67529f51ef43b@FreeBSD.org> <dbf7fd4428d7baf4afd6251e39f2bc47@bsdforge.com>

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On Mon, 24 Jan 2022 09:29:45 -0800
Chris <portmaster@bsdforge.com> wrote:
> FWIW I'd also like to vote +1 on NO additions. I only vote in favor of ftp in 
> this thread because we have a million year... OK 30 plus years of track
> record for it and it just works. 

For me, FTP does not just work. 

Pkg over FTP hangs for 30 seconds on "Updating repository", and has done so
with and without firewalls on a few different repository sites I maintain.
Rather than spend more than the accumulated time I have spent to dig using
dtrace/ktrace, read the pkg source code, find the problem, fix it myself, and
beg for a pull request to be included ... I moved to SSH. SSH (for me) was
already set up the way I'd have needed it. In many cases, it was just a matter
of editing the url: line in the repo file. 

Problem solved in seconds. :)

However, this doesn't mean I don't want FTP to still be supported. I do agree
with you that it seems Bapt's mind is made up (said with all due respect to
Bapt, I'm not trying to berate him here, this is just the observation I've
had), and I would like to +1 for FTP to stay in. 

That being said, I mostly understand why he wants to get rid of it, in part 
thanks to Jan Bramkamp's message jogging my memory. If you want to understand
Bapt's point of view, note this response culled from Jan Bramkamp's nice
example of proactive software engineering:

> Have you ever looked into a FTP protocol parser and what's required to 
> get different FTP configurations through the NAT infested networks of 
> today? FTP is an ugly protocol from the beginning of time  

Jan here is amusingly correct. As someone who...decades ago...did just
this, I distinctly remember that it -was- indeed very ugly. Do a man
8 ftpd if you want, and look at all those requests you have to know
about and send. I feel that this alone should convince anyone, but then again
genetic diversity is always in play.  

Because of this, I respect and support Bapt's work to modernize pkg
(tcp:// ... that's nice and +1), even though I would still somehow 
like FTP to be supported. I will adapt if FTP is removed, as I have done for
decades with FreeBSD's decisions. Do I have any reasonable choice otherwise? :)
-- 
Dave Hayes - Consultant - LA CA, USA - dave@dream-tech.com
>>>> *The opinions expressed above are entirely my own* <<<<

It is not reality that has a time flow, but our very
approximate knowledge of reality. Time is the effect
of our ignorance.                     -Carlo Rovelli



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