31 Mar
2000
31 Mar
'00
6:31 a.m.
Funny, I've been using Kermit since 1981 and FTP
since 1985 and
I still don't know which egg/chicken came first.
They seem awfully similar from a user's standpoint.
Anybody know If FTP is based on Kermit or Vice-Versa?
The first RFC for FTP is RFC 765, from June 1980. It begins:
The objectives of FTP are 1) to promote sharing of files (computer
programs and/or data), 2) to encourage indirect or implicit (via
programs) use of remote computers, 3) to shield a user from
variations in file storage systems among Hosts, and 4) to transfer
data reliably and efficiently. FTP, though usable directly by a user
at a terminal, is designed mainly for use by programs.
Note that today there are few "programs" that know how to speak FTP
directly, when someone says "FTP this" they almost always mean running
the user-types-command-to-a-FTP-client.
(Yes, there certainly are some programs that know how to speak FTP, I'm
just pointing out that this isn't as common as the originators of the
protocol wanted. If anything, it seems to be gaining in popularity
as a "built-in" protocol, for example wget will take a ftp: or http:
URL quite interchangably.)
The user interface for both Kermit and FTP certainly are similar, and
that shouldn't be a surprise, since the "big iron" being hooked up to
other "big iron" in that day was almost always PDP-10 to PDP-10. Both
the Kermit and FTP command styles are descended from the PDP-10 conventions
(the TOPS-20 monitor in particular.)
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
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