linux newby

Thu Dec 7 01:00:08 UTC 2017

Frankly, I would judge sftp easier to setup and maintain. You need only
get the configurations right, after which you can add and remove content
without updating any encompassing web presentation file.

Yes, I'm quite sure you could get the same result with php, but that's
yet more configuring, so pick your comfort level with coding. I should
note there are apps whose purpose is sharing media content across web
connections, but I've not personally found one that was all that
accessible. And, ftp is quite straight forward to setup. Adding the s in
sftp just means getting your certifications, and that's now dirt simple
with Let's Encrypt:

http://letsencrypt.org

Best of all, you can access your sftp site via web browser, if you like:

sftp://yoursite.tld

And, you can even use apps like File Manager Plus on Android, or
something similar on ios, where the touch screen interface can be easier
than a touch screen browser.

So, it won't look fancy, but that's the trade-off, imo.

Janina

Linux for blind general discussion writes:
> I have a small amount of users in my family who I wish to have access to my
> books, movies and audio files.  I have been mixed on whether I should set up
> an SFTP or a web server. I don't know which would be easiest.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blinux-list-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:blinux-list-bounces at redhat.com]
> On Behalf Of Linux for blind general discussion
> Sent: December 6, 2017 07:30 AM
> To: blinux-list at redhat.com
> Subject: Re: linux newby
> 
> (Tim here, reply below)
> 
> On December  6, 2017, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> > I am learning how to use debian linux. Where can I find a good 
> > tutorial that will help me eventually set up an ftp server?
> 
> Depends on what you plan to use your FTP server for.  If it's just internal
> on your network, it's pretty easy to do, setting up something like vsftpd.
> If you plan to expose it externally, it may take jumping through a few
> hoops:
> 
> - Unless it's only for anonymous access/download, you'll need to
>   establish users. And FTP credentials are sent across the wire in
>   plaintext making them pretty insecure
> 
> - if you have users, you likely need to fiddle with settings to
>   ensure their personal stuff stays private while public stuff
>   remains public
> 
> - If you're behind a NAT router (like most home routers), you'll have
>   to mess with your NAT settings to allow the external ports to be
>   redirected to your internal FTP machine
> 
> - you have to deal with "active" vs. "passive" connection issues
> 
> 
> In short, if you're setting up just an anonymous FTP site for people to
> download from and are directly attached to the internet (rather than behind
> a NAT router), it will be easiest.  Diverging from any of those elements
> introduces more and more pain.
> 
> As such, I strongly recommend SFTP (part of the standard SSH/SCP/SFTP suite
> that comes with most Linux/BSD/Mac boxes, and freely available from the
> makers of Putty) which allows system users, can be locked down to just SFTP
> (instead of full shell access), and all credentials and file contents are
> encrypted instead of transmitted in plain-text.
> 
> But if you want the pain and have more details on the above variants, I'd be
> glad to write up a getting-started guide.
> 
> -tim
> 
> 
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-- 

Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.443.300.2200
			sip:janina at asterisk.rednote.net
		Email:	janina at rednote.net

Linux Foundation Fellow
Executive Chair, Accessibility Workgroup:	http://a11y.org

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Chair, Accessible Platform Architectures	http://www.w3.org/wai/apa