opinions on replacing vsftpd with proftpd?

[Aly Dharshi]

> FTP+ssl is just as bad. One of the problems is the way the client talks
> with the server, and not just the authentication.

	No it is not bad, I work for a large ISP and ftp is great for most 
people they can easily get something that can do ftp, secondly its 
extremely simple to use, you can drag and drop, even in an Microcrap 
environment, which is what most average users use out there. Imagine 
trying to educate someone about ssh et al, ftp is simple, ftp + ssl is 
even better, one can give people the ability to use the same simple 
system system without having them hit another learning curve and provide 
security for them in the process.

	I haven't seem many sftp/scp proggies out there, WinSCP being the 
exception that does really well. FTP has been around for a while and can 
do the job for trivial things. Usually tech savvy people are the ones 
employing ssh technologies. :)


> sftp is much better in terms of auth, but much slower than simple HTTP
> for data transfer.

	In what way ? I mean you can hook ftp servers into various auth 
backends, for instance PureFTPD will do LDAP which is great for many 
places if they don't want this then the regular /etc/passwd system is 
available. On most systems - most do have PAM nowadays - ssh/sftp/scp 
would use the same auth system as would ftp. If you don't then maybe 
there is something unique to your environment or maybe there would be 
need for one to rethink their authentication system.

	I usually use wget to get my files for example iso's and they have 
really good speeds. I have moved around files to different cities and 
back using scp/sftp and I haven't had a performance hit actually.

	Cheers,

	Aly.

-- 
Aly Dharshi
aly.dharshi at telus.net
 

          "A good speech is like a good dress
           that's short enough to be interesting
           and long enough to cover the subject"