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Date:      Mon, 5 Apr 2021 15:48:39 -0400
From:      Charles Sprickman <spork@bway.net>
To:        "Patrick M. Hausen" <hausen@punkt.de>
Cc:        Ed Maste <emaste@freebsd.org>, freebsd-stable stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: Deprecating base system ftpd?
Message-ID:  <81955104-AFA3-451D-8AE7-630C483E8DF3@bway.net>
In-Reply-To: <6051E091-200B-4A7F-9A53-86652425BBB6@punkt.de>
References:  <CAPyFy2AbP2X339zbemZ9Y8edjNKdyygnR9mH48Q78nxwDtOBAg@mail.gmail.com> <6051E091-200B-4A7F-9A53-86652425BBB6@punkt.de>

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> On Apr 5, 2021, at 3:01 PM, Patrick M. Hausen <hausen@punkt.de> wrote:
>=20
> Hi all,
>=20
> I absolutely freaked out when Apple removed the telnet and ftp clients
> from Mac OS and I needed to reinstall them via MacPorts.

Yep, and what I think many miss IRT to the stock ftpd is that it=E2=80=99s=
 dumb simple and =E2=80=9Cjust works=E2=80=9D.

For web hosting stuff I generally use something like Proftpd or vsftpd, =
and, IMHO, that=E2=80=99s when you should have to expend brain power to =
choose something from ports - when your use-case (supporting hosting =
customers, virtual users, etc.) requires a non-trivial ftp =
implementation.

Also I can count on my left hand the number of web hosting customers =
I=E2=80=99ve run into that actually use scp for sftp or even know what =
that is. They=E2=80=99re using the same ftp client they=E2=80=99ve =
always used (ws-ftp quite often) and the last thing they want to do is =
learn something new.

> People who manage any larger collection of networking gear *depend*
> on these outdated but simple services. Client and server side alike.

I frequently work with people who have limited budgets, and I don=E2=80=99=
t think I=E2=80=99m alone in that. Ebay is chock full of high-volume =
sellers turning over old networking gear that is amazingly good stuff =
that=E2=80=99s just outdated. I can grab a 48 port GigE switch with =
10gb/s uplink ports for under $200. The market is gigantic, and putting =
old stuff to use on an internal network with proper safeguards is not =
totally crazy. Customers can have multiple fully-loaded spares on-site =
for less than what a year of SmartNet coverage would cost.

My server platform of choice when I want a =E2=80=9Csupport server=E2=80=9D=
 for this old stuff has always been FreeBSD. Stock tftpd and ftpd are =
wonderful, and anyone professing that those two tiny daemons are =
=E2=80=9Cbloat=E2=80=9D just hasn=E2=80=99t used Linux.

> TFTP is not going away, neither is FTP. I'm dead serious. Remote media
> via Supermicro IPMI in 2021? SMB1. Firmware updates for my UPS? FTP.
> Scanner/printer/fax all-in-one thingy? Uploads received fax =
transmissions
> via FTP. PBX? Uploads usage reports via FTP. This stuff is here to =
stay.
> In local networks, of course.

Preach! And plenty of VoIP gear too!

There are absolutely real world uses for these simple daemons, and I =
trust some stock FreeBSD daemon like this more than something I might =
fetch from ports - both in terms of knowing it=E2=80=99s had some kind =
of auditing/maintenance by qualified people and that it=E2=80=99s going =
to have an accurate manpage, sane defaults, and remain relatively =
simple/minimal.

I think as everyone has moved to the cloud and devops and all that they =
forget about sysadmins standing up servers as simple utility boxes that =
support a bunch of other gear.

> But still even on "the Internet", FTP is the most used method for =
customers
> of static website hosting. You cannot teach these people what an SSH =
key is.
> Just my experience, but backed by a load of customer interactions over =
more
> than 20 years =E2=80=A6

I think some people mean well, and they imagine that if we just tell =
people to move to some monstrosity like Filezilla the problem is solved, =
but realistically it=E2=80=99s just a good way to lose paying customers.

Charles

>=20
> Kind regards,
> Patrick
> --
> punkt.de GmbH
> Patrick M. Hausen
> .infrastructure
>=20
> Kaiserallee 13a
> 76133 Karlsruhe
>=20
> Tel. +49 721 9109500
>=20
> https://infrastructure.punkt.de
> info@punkt.de
>=20
> AG Mannheim 108285
> Gesch=C3=A4ftsf=C3=BChrer: J=C3=BCrgen Egeling, Daniel Lienert, Fabian =
Stein
>=20


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