<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>FTP mini-HOWTO: About FTP</TITLE> <LINK HREF="FTP-3.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="FTP-1.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="FTP.html#toc2" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="FTP-3.html">Next</A> <A HREF="FTP-1.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="FTP.html#toc2">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s2">2. About FTP</A></H2> <P>FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a client/server protocol that allows a user to transfer files to and from a remote network site. It works with TCP and is most commonly used on the Internet, although it can also be used on a LAN. <P> <P>An FTP site is a computer that is running FTP server software (also known an FTP daemon, or <CODE>ftpd</CODE>). A public ftp site can usually be accessed by anybody by logging in as <CODE>anonymous</CODE> or <CODE>ftp</CODE>. There are many excellent public ftp sites that make repositories of free Unix software available. By learning how to use FTP, you give yourself access to an indespensible resource. <P> <P>Private FTP sites require a user name or password. If you have a shell account with your ISP, you may be able to access your files via FTP (contact your system administrator to check on this). <P> <P>An FTP client is the userland application that provides access to FTP servers. There are many FTP clients available. Some are graphical, and some are text-based. <P> <P>FTP was first developed by the University of California, Berkeley for inclusion in 4.2BSD (Berkeley Unix). The RFC (Request for Comments) is available at <A HREF="ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/rfc/rfc0959.txt">ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/rfc/rfc0959.txt</A>. <P> <HR> <A HREF="FTP-3.html">Next</A> <A HREF="FTP-1.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="FTP.html#toc2">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>