On Mon, 13 Dec 1999 09:26:24 EST, Scot McPherson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> My opinion is that people should use the proper service to an end. If
> someone needs to transfer a file to you, than it should be done with FTP or
> other similar service..Even ICQ (which negotiates clients for direct file
> transfer). E-mail should be for text and small attachments related to the
> message, not a method of transferring files...
OK.. I've got a file to send to you.
Let's say I toss it to you:
a) Do you have an incoming anonymous FTP drop *of your own*?
b) Are you willing to set up incoming FTP for one file?
c) What if you're one of the millions of people who use an ISP that
doesn't provide FTP drops?
OK, that doesn't seem to be viable. Let me store it and you pick it up:
d) I happen to be lucky enough to have my own workstation. However,
you can't FTP to it because I have FTP disabled. If I don't have an FTP
drop, you can't pick it up.
e) If I didn't have a Web page area big enough to hold the file,
how would I send it to you? Remember that many freebie sites put a 5M or 10M
quota on the users...
Of course, the right answer is something like this:
1440 SIFT/UFT: Sender-Initiated/Unsolicited File Transfer. R. Troth.
July 1993. (Format: TXT=17366 bytes) (Status: EXPERIMENTAL)
However, there's few enough sites running it that it's not really an
alternative. Heck, I *know* Rick Troth, and I'm not even running one,
mostly due to a lack of anybody else for it to talk to.
Perhaps it's time to dust that RFC off and see what can be done with it...
--
Valdis Kletnieks
Operating Systems Analyst
Virginia Tech
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