Posted on 10/20/2021 9:34:06 PM PDT by dayglored
The Chromium team has finally done it – File Transfer Protocol (FTP) support is not just deprecated, but stripped from the codebase in the latest stable build of the Chrome browser, version 95.
It has been a while coming. A lack of support for encrypted connections in Chrome's FTP implementation, coupled with a general disinterest from the majority of the browser's users, and more capable third-party alternatives being available has meant that the code has moved from deprecated to gone entirely.
Support for fetching document resources over FTP was stripped from Chrome 72, proxy support for FTP was removed in Chrome 76, and Chrome 86 introduced a flag to turn it off completely.
In between 76 and 86, Google tinkered with deprecation, backing away in the first half of 2020 in response to the pandemic and the workload faced by hardpressed IT crews. However, the writing was on the wall for the venerable protocol.
By version 88 it was disabled for all users, but still could be switched back on. Now the code to support it has at last been removed once and for all, a little later than hoped.
Mozilla dumped the protocol from its Firefox browser back in July, and Apple doesn't really support it in Safari.
As for Microsoft, while its Edge browser might be based on Chromium, there is always Internet Explorer, which should still do the business should you have a need for a bit of browser-based retro file-transfer action. And few browsers deserve the retro tag as much as IE, even if Microsoft is determined to kill it off in most forms next year.
As for why FTP has attracted such ire – well, the protocol is over 50 years old and comes from more innocent times, when authentication was not what it is today. More secure options now exist (such as FTPS and SFTP) and, frankly, Google and pals would rather users opted for a dedicated transfer app than bother maintaining the code in the browser.
There remain a good few FTP sites out there (such as the US Census Bureau), although many now have alternatives for file transfer. The final ejection of the code from Chrome, which lays claim to a huge userbase, means it really is time to move on. ®
Clickable links in the original article: https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/20/ftp_chrome_95/
But that innocence is long gone. And there have been far better tools available for many years.
sftp://host.domain.com/path/...
Anybody know?
FTP? I don’t even know what that is, so I suppose I won’t miss it. Of course, I’m a very low tech person by choice.
If I don’t need to know, then I (almost) don’t want to know!
I do recall commercials about STP in the Olden Days. They called it
“The Racer’s Edge”.
Finally!!!! I guess.
It is still used but disabled.
You must know how to enable it to do F/W upgrades on older equipment.
In a former job, years ago, I had to upload files enrollment files to insurance carriers using FTP but there are much better and secure ways of doing that now.
Filezilla is an excellent product and gives the support for FTP, SFTP, and FTPS in an open-source product.
https://filezilla-project.org/
(There is a ‘pro’ version for $20 that gives really good support for cloud drives as well. Same link)
True! And perhaps even worse -- TFTP (Trivial FTP) is still required for some older device firmware upgrades. Old Cisco routers, for example.
TFTP doesn't even have the pretense of authentication available, just connect to the server and it gives you the file. Granted, that's handy and easy, but anyone who implements a TFTP server on their LAN, other than in a totally enclosed, firewalled, or better, air-gapped environment, is asking for trouble.
Yeah, I use Filezilla, very handy. I particularly like the split-screen (local and remote directory) display.
Some time ago I read about security issues with Filezilla but offhand I can't recall what they were or where I read it. I'll ask my IT Team Security officer about it in the morning, I think she's the one that pointed me at the source.
I use Ipswitch WS_FTP 12 to upload files to my websites. It’s a dedicate FTP program. I’ve never used a browser for my FTP needs.
Ipswitch WS_FTP 12 also has a split screen. Although I bought it over 10 years ago, so it’s likely far beyond version 12 (if they’re still making it).
Most of my products I install are behind a firewall.
The FTP is still required to get the customer to the latest and greatest. It requires certain serial commands and that old technology seems to be leaving most of the new cadets.
They do not have the means or tech to do it.
Serial is not dead.
Effects of this drug include substantial perceptual changes such as blurred vision, multiple images, vibration of objects, visual alterations, distorted shapes, enhancement of details, slowed passage of time, increased sexual drive and pleasure, and increased contrasts. It may cause mystical experiences and changes in consciousness.Sadly, the file transfer protocol FTP had none of those features.
Not a bit. Just last week we had to arrange for a BIOS-level serial port on a computer one of our devs was using. Our usual USB-to-Serial adapter was inapplicable, since the BIOS didn't have support for USB at that level. Wound up purchasing a PCI plug-in card with a 9-pin connector. A wave of nostalgia washed over us all...
Sounds interesting. I'll look into it.
Sometimes it can get really difficult.
Technology takes off and leaves me in the dust.
My CD books are useless in my new car because it does not have a CD player.
I hate that. :(
Wow, I would too! Does it have any other "external input" option, maybe a mini audio "AUX" input jack, or a USB socket that allows use of a Flash drive with MP3 files on it?
I must have used it once or twice but can’t recall ever actually doing FTP via a browser. I had a few FTP transfer apps I used, mostly when I had remote server/website/shopping cart code to access.
These days, I use services for the above; and dropbox and others to move larger files.
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