On Mon, 11 Oct 1999, Greg A. Woods wrote:
> [ On , October 8, 1999 at 04:39:17 (-0700), Harry Putnam wrote: ]
> > Subject: Re: sftp
>
> I cannot imagine anything that ssh and scp can't do together that any
> Unix-style FTP client can do (with the exception of perhaps specialised
> things like re-starting a failed transfer -- something that ssh and scp
> couldn't do without additional lines of shell script assisting them).
> In fact for anyone already accustomed to using simple shell scripts and
> commands like 'cp', ssh & scp can do infinitely more than any normal FTP
> client can on its own.
How about transferring multiple files that can't easily be expressed with
a wildcard, or in both directions? Or transferring files that you don't
know the path of (one sftp session is more efficient that an ssh session
and an scp).
> I think sftp is simply for people who's ability to learn and adapt has
> been somehow lost or turned off or something! ;-) Otherwise it was
> just a waste of a "small matter of programming."
There have been times that I've wanted to use a secure ftp program. I
wrote 95% of one about 1.5 years ago (and a bit more last week when I
tried it and it didn't work). This was before ssh2 was released.
Basically, the client spawns off a copy of ssh, which connects to the
remote server and spawns a copy of the server. The client and server talk
over the ssh socket. It works with ssh1 and rlogin, and I don't see any
reason that ssh2 wouldn't work also, although sftp might be better (never
tried it, since I don't use ssh2).
Anyway, I'm planning to release this as soon as I do the last little bit,
since it might be useful to others. If anyone wants a copy before then,
let me know...
Brian
