3 ms·

Well, I'd gladly switch to sftp, but dumb-ass OSX and Windows don't understand it out of the box and most users are unaware of more powerful (and easier to use)

• crescendo 18y ago
  OS X does support sftp out of the box. Also, it can act as an sftp host if you enable Remote Login (ssh).
  • tlrobinson 18y ago
    From the command line, yes, but not the GUI. When I do command-K in the Finder and enter a sftp://whatever I get this message: URLs should begin with afp://, at://, file://, ftp://, http:// http://, https:// https://, nfs://, smb://, cifs://, or vnc:// It's easy enough to get a nice SFTP client though (I prefer Transmit. It even supports Amazon S3)
    • crescendo 18y ago
      Ah, yes, that's right. It's easy to forget that not everyone is a developer. Cyberduck (http://cyberduck.ch/ http://cyberduck.ch/) is also a good sftp/s3 client for OS X.
    • jonknee 18y ago
      OS X doesn't even really support FTP through the Finder... It's read only. A good substitute is MacFUSE and the SSH file system. Your server gets mounted as a disk (read and write!) and it's secure through SSH. If you want goodies like preferences there is a product called ExpanDrive that makes it pretty seamless.
• aasarava 18y ago
  For Windows, you can get WinSCP pretty easily. It supports SFTP and, obviously, SCP.
  • kirse 18y ago
    Good and simple program. I used to use WinFTP_LE but this one is where it's at for free Windows FTP tools.
• froo 18y ago
  I'd say that the reason why people aren't switching so readily is actually a function of the human condition moreso than any technical reason. Looking at other industries, like health care, people are more content in spending effort/money on "miracle cures" than worrying about taking steps towards preventing these problems from happening. The exact same thing happens in say, the Automotive industry - a large percentage of consumers dont take active measures towards ensuring their vehicle is in good running order, and are more content with dealing with the consequences. The same thing seems to happen when talking about computer security. I dont think it's because people dont care about computer security, they're just more ready to accept the consequences rather than taking preventative steps. It's a real damn shame too.
  • rw 18y ago
    "people are more content in spending effort/money on 'miracle cures'" ... or businesses are just more interested in researching products that have obvious profitability. Let's say you spread the gospel of eating healthy foods. Where is your income coming from?
  • tx 18y ago
    What? It's MUCH simplier than than: I can't send a Windows/OSX user an email with an SFTP version of this line: ftp://server.com/report.pdf It's that simple.
    • tptacek 18y ago
      Why would you ever send ftp://anything when you could instead send http://anything http://anything?
      • tx 18y ago
        Yep, that's a popular response I get from OSX people: if Apple can't do something, that's because "you don't need it".
        • tptacek 18y ago
• bprater 18y ago
  I'm not sure what out of the box means. Good clients like Coda and YummyFTP support SFTP.