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mm1250

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 3, 2007
327
43
Does Mac OS Leopad have a built in FTP Client? I am doing some web design and I need an FTP client. If it doesn't what are the best 3rd party clients out there? I'm looking for something light, not crazy with features.
 
You may want to consider just using a browser. Just use the ftp://website.com format, it'll ask you for login info. However, I haven't seen many browsers that'll lay down SSL automatically in an ftp session, i.e. SFTP. For all of that I use yummy ftp.

But OSx has a wealth of secure file sharing protocols built in that you may be interested in. NFS, SMB all all the IPSec layers are all there for you. You've just got to setup your servers and you're all set.

And don't forget AppleTalk and the Bonjour thing - especially if you're sharing Macs. OSx isn't real good with remote volume management however, but it's not what Macs are really meant to do. They are basically personal workstations and you'll need some presentation layers between you and the storage. I was REALLY hoping the new Time Machine stuff would be NAS/FTP/NFS/SMB ready, but alas. Mac's are just workstations.

Finally, most admins use the SSH layers to copy files and ensure IpSec at the same time, such as SCP and what not. In fact, most servers have FTP disabled long ago for security reasons and you are forced to use encryption/authentication layers to get to some data somewhere. Once you get into the grove it becomes real easy.
 
No built-in ftp client on OSX. I wish there was one, though.

For 3rd-party, I've tried 2:

Transmit - Very good. Easy to use, stable, and flexible.
Fetch - I've actually gone back to fetch lately and it does a great job. Not free anymore, though. But then, neither is Transmit.
 
Transmit is probably the best FTP client on the Mac. I use Coda, also from Panic, which utilizes the same core as Transmit. But Transmit is cheaper.

Otherwise, I'd check MacUpdate for free FTP clients, if your needs are basic, and minimal.
 
cyberduck is where its at. Free, stable, easy to use. I have been using it since transmit decided to charge for their product.
 
cyberduck is where its at. Free, stable, easy to use. I have been using it since transmit decided to charge for their product.

And they very well deserve to charge for it. If you only use FTP occasionally, Cyberduck is OK. But it really doesn't hold a candle to Transmit for heavy FTP use. I tried Cyberduck briefly but it didn't survive more than a couple days with me.
 
And they very well deserve to charge for it.

What does Transmit do which justifies the money they want for it? I could name dozens of free feature-rich FTP clients for Windows or Linux.

I've always found it funny how Mac users are happy to pay for basic applications which should be free. Probably the worst one I've come across is AppZapper - you need to pay for a program which does nothing except delete other programs? :confused:
 
What does Transmit do which justifies the money they want for it? I could name dozens of free feature-rich FTP clients for Windows or Linux.

I've always found it funny how Mac users are happy to pay for basic applications which should be free. Probably the worst one I've come across is AppZapper - you need to pay for a program which does nothing except delete other programs? :confused:

Well, AppZapper is probably one of the worst offenders in that category. AppTrap is a free System Preference Pane that does the same job, but much better. Sure, it's got less eye-candy, but it makes the process part of the normal workflow.

Back to Transmit, or better yet, software in general. Panic has every right to charge for the software they produce. They spent countless hours on developing a rock-solid, modern Mac OS X application, and they deserve to be paid for their work. Others have donated their time and released software with similar basic functionality under a free license, but it doesn't make Panic's efforts any less valuable.

(And let's avoid the broad generalizations, ok?)
 
What does Transmit do which justifies the money they want for it? I could name dozens of free feature-rich FTP clients for Windows or Linux.

Um, what did they do to justify it? They're professional programmers who put a lot of time and effort and thought into it.

I've always found it funny how Mac users are happy to pay for basic applications which should be free.

I always find it funny how people like you seem to think software creates itself and should automatically be free. You're not a developer, are you? Just because some apps are free doesn't mean all should be. Stop being an idiot. How about you spend hundreds or thousands of hours on something -- something at which you're a professional, not a hobbyist -- and then have people berate you for charging for it? These people have to make a living. And the fact that you call Transmit a "basic application" just proves that you don't know much about its capabilities. It's the most fully-featured FTP app I've used on any platform -- Windows, Mac, or Linux.
 
I always find it funny how people like you seem to think software creates itself and should automatically be free. You're not a developer, are you? Just because some apps are free doesn't mean all should be. Stop being an idiot. How about you spend hundreds or thousands of hours on something -- something at which you're a professional, not a hobbyist -- and then have people berate you for charging for it?

Great response :rolleyes: I'm a professional software engineer currently working on a real-world commercial project in .NET. I also do Java development. I think I know what's involved in developing software.

I've worked on open-source projects in the past devoting considerable amounts of my personal time for absolutely no monetary gain what-so-ever, so don't give me that crap.

Maybe you should get your facts straight before replying next time.
 
Great response :rolleyes: I'm a professional software engineer currently working on a real-world commercial project in .NET. I also do Java development. I think I know what's involved in developing software.

I've worked on open-source projects in the past devoting considerable amounts of my personal time for absolutely no monetary gain what-so-ever, so don't give me that crap.

Good for you. Want a cookie? I always love it when people start spewing their resumes on here...usually the ones who do it are full of you-know-what. So stuff your indignation and "don't give me that crap." Maybe I should have been more specific and said self-employed or direct-to-consumer developers, not corporate developers (because if some of the people at a couple companies I've worked with on occasion pass as "developers," then it's no surprise how crappy a lot of corporate software is). Regardless...

Maybe you should get your facts straight before replying next time.

I fail to see what I needed to get "straight". I never brought up open source software. Open source is great. But Transmit isn't open source, so who are you to say it "should be free"? It's not your place. Maybe you need to get some things straight. I'm done with this, because this is asinine: despite people's recommendations, you somehow find it your place (despite not being the one who created the software) to argue that Transmit should be free. Recommend it, or don't.

There are several decent FTP clients out there for free...we established that. There's also programs like Transmit, which cost something but offer more robust functionality, more features, and a more polished interface...all of which can add up to a lot of saved time for heavy users who really depend on the software. This is true in almost every category of software. Not everyone wants or needs the high-end program that costs money; just because you're one of them doesn't mean you get to belittle the developers of the one you don't choose. I'd like to hope that if you're actually a (good) developer, you'd at least have that much respect.

But whatever... if someone needs FTP, check out Cyberduck or Transmit. The best of the free and not free, and I'm sure everyone can make the best choice for their needs after trying them out.
 
Good for you. Want a cookie? I always love it when people start spewing their resumes on here...usually the ones who do it are full of you-know-what. So stuff your indignation and "don't give me that crap."

You can believe whatever you want. Fact is that you made an assumption which ended up backfiring and being totally wrong. By the way, you're the one who started throwing insults around when you called me an idiot.


But Transmit isn't open source, so who are you to say it "should be free"?

Nice use of quotation marks. Where did I say (or even imply) that it "should be free"? I asked why it costs money and why people are willing to pay that money when there are free alternatives, which still nobody has answered.

Edit: Right, I see where I used those words, but it's obvious that I was talking about Mac applications in general rather than specifically Transmit since it's in a separate paragraph.
 
No built-in ftp client on OSX. I wish there was one, though.

Are you kidding?

It's sitting right there in /usr/bin/.

seanneko said:
I've always found it funny how Mac users are happy to pay for basic applications which should be free.

Yeah. Except that you don't need to. Aside from the Open Source alternatives such as CyberDuck OneButton FTP and Firefox extensions like FireFTP, there's a perfectly usable binary already on the Macintosh.

For throwing around comparisons, we can also look at the fact that Mac OS X provides SSH/SFTP/SCP connectivity out of the box. I didn't realise people were this passionate about a mostly outdated connectivity method and its easy-to-find apps.
 
You may want to consider just using a browser. Just use the ftp://website.com format, it'll ask you for login info. However, I haven't seen many browsers that'll lay down SSL automatically in an ftp session, i.e. SFTP. For all of that I use yummy ftp.

But OSx has a wealth of secure file sharing protocols built in that you may be interested in. NFS, SMB all all the IPSec layers are all there for you. You've just got to setup your servers and you're all set.

And don't forget AppleTalk and the Bonjour thing - especially if you're sharing Macs. OSx isn't real good with remote volume management however, but it's not what Macs are really meant to do. They are basically personal workstations and you'll need some presentation layers between you and the storage. I was REALLY hoping the new Time Machine stuff would be NAS/FTP/NFS/SMB ready, but alas. Mac's are just workstations.

Finally, most admins use the SSH layers to copy files and ensure IpSec at the same time, such as SCP and what not. In fact, most servers have FTP disabled long ago for security reasons and you are forced to use encryption/authentication layers to get to some data somewhere. Once you get into the grove it becomes real easy.

ftp:// only works on PC not MAC.

ivnj
 
Thanks for the reply all.

I ended up downloading Transmit, Interarchy and Fetch.

I found the best one to be Transmit,

Fetch was way to bloated with features, Interarchy was a little wacky designed.

Transmit is simple, light and left is your pc, right is the server. That's FTP.
 
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/885

No native support in Leopard. Never has been in panther or tiger either.

ivnj

Perhaps you should read the link you posted

"Sure, starting a few versions back, you were able to navigate to an FTP volume in the Finder (and starting with Tiger it actually WORKED reliably), but you were (and according to The Hendry apparently still are) limited to downloading from the Finder, you still cannot UPLOAD from the Finder."
 
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