[dayglored]

> You must know how to enable it to do F/W upgrades on older equipment.

True! And perhaps even worse -- TFTP (Trivial FTP) is still required for some older device firmware upgrades. Old Cisco routers, for example.

TFTP doesn't even have the pretense of authentication available, just connect to the server and it gives you the file. Granted, that's handy and easy, but anyone who implements a TFTP server on their LAN, other than in a totally enclosed, firewalled, or better, air-gapped environment, is asking for trouble.

[eyedigress]

Most of my products I install are behind a firewall.

The FTP is still required to get the customer to the latest and greatest. It requires certain serial commands and that old technology seems to be leaving most of the new cadets.

They do not have the means or tech to do it.

Serial is not dead.

[ShadowAce]

TFTP doesn't even have the pretense of authentication available, just connect to the server and it gives you the file.

TFTP is typically used for PXE booting. I still use it for HPC clusters to re-image nodes from the head nodes.