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/
If you still have a computer with a CD ROM (or blueray etc) you can rip them to MP3 and stream them to a more modern car stereo or aux input. Sheesh I remember spending 100s of hours burning my CDs to MP3. Now I have no idea where my CDs are even stored. Maybe I gave them away.
Just got myself a new (very used, but new to me). Runs great. But not even bluetooth. CD changer in the trunk. Very 1999 tech. I am searching for a low cost method to convert it to bluetooth. There is one dash mount thingy that broadcasts into one of the radio channels and mirrors to a phone.
I used to build computers for a major manufacturer and learned that the chipset for WIN98 was obsolete.
Our company programs all worked on that platform.
I searched high and low to get those MB’s. I had 6 waiting by the time I left. I also bought all of the HD’s that match.
I copied each HD drive on the floor, maybe 6 stations. That transfer box was about 900 bucks.
HD failure on the floor had me down to about 2 hrs.
Good Times! :^)
It has USB ports. I’m Lazy.
1) It’s true that FTP should be avoided.
2) The presence or absence of FTP in a specific program has nothing to do with whether or not the protocol itself is dead.
Would someone tell me what the heck what you just said? I can’t get that damned Microsoft Chronic out of my Internet Explorer system. Bring back Windows 7 then get the bell away from my computer. W7 worked very well and so does I.E..
mIRC!
Well, I still use FTP a couple of times a week.
Does what I need it to do, and I don’t have to waste time and energy learning how to use something else.
What about Archie?
I still use Windows 7. Never made the upgrade. I’m thinking my next computer should be a Linux Mint Cinnamon.
Oh wow, bring back memories.
Early internet protocols telnet, ftp, usenet, gopher, even remember using the finger daemon and messing with people in chats by telling them real names. lol
I think the last time I used Gopher was, I don’t know, 1997?
There was a lifeguard at the pool I rehab at in his early 20s.
I gave him a CD of my latest musical efforts. A few weeks later I asked him if he ever listened to it.
His response was that he thought he had a CD player somewhere in his basement but he couldn’t find it.
I’ve got a Parasound C/DP 1000 with the outboard DAC & while it’s 27 years old now and acting more than a little cranky and quirky sometimes, (just like me), it was built like a tank and still sounds wonderful.
I can also up-res my files to 24 bit/192k sample rate but only take the time to do it for my favorites. Even just converting mp3 to .wav makes a difference on a good system.
You should be able to pick up a Bluetooth adapter for your car at just about anyplace from Best Buy to WallyWorld or your local car stereo installer. Good luck.
TFTP is typically used for PXE booting. I still use it for HPC clusters to re-image nodes from the head nodes.
Can a Freeper Tech translate from Dolphin to English, please.
I am a Freeper beancounter. I am not sure how this FTP change impacts my life
I can assure you that reports of FTP’s demise are premature. FTP is alive and well across much of the public Internet. It may not be available as a browser utility, but it’s still very much in use.
I didn’t even know Chrome had an FTP, not that it matters. Before I retired, I used one a lot, but it was managed by my employer and probably pre-Chrome.
You can get an external CD drive with a USB connector for modern machines.
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