On 2003.07.30 20:33 Gary Thorpe wrote:

> I am not saying wget should be in the base system. What I am saying is
> that there is no need for a ftp client to to be able to download from
> any urls except ftp.=20
The NetBSD install system needs a http client to fetch distribution
systems during network install from a web server. There are places
(firewalls, proxies...) where http is available but ftp not. Furthermore
NetBSD/pkgsrc needs a http client to fetch distfiles, as some distfiles
are only available via http. Hence there must be a simple http client in
the base system. FreeBSD invented fetch(1) for this purpose, NetBSD
extended ftp(1) with basic http client code.=20

> can ftp "browse" the web too????=20
No. It has only basic "HTTP GET" functionality like wget(1) or curl(1),
but no fancy features like recursive get or mirroring or support for the
POST method.=20

And to come back to topic: SSL support for ftp(1) with the possibility
to do certificate validation is a "Good Thing (C) (R) (TM)".=20
--=20


tsch=FC=DF,
       Jochen

Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/