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Re: curl: ftp anonymous password

From: SM <nntp_at_iname.com>
Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 19:16:09 +0400

Hi,
At 13:40 02-01-2002 +0000, eperez_at_dei.inf.uc3m.es wrote:
>> > - Sending anything that's not anonymous@ as password is not
>> > anonymous by definition
>>
>> Surely it is. It doesn't identify the user one bit, it identifies the
>> user-agent only.
>
>That can be used to discriminate based on user-agent and nobody likes
>that.

Anonymous ftp is not meant to be anonymous. Accessing the ftp server
anonymously is a privilege. Quoting RFC 1635:

   Traditionally, this special anonymous user account accepts any string

as a password, although it is common to use either the password
   "guest"
or one's electronic mail (e-mail) address. Some archive
   sites now
explicitly ask for the user's e-mail address and will not
   allow login
with the "guest" password. Providing an e-mail address
   is a courtesy
that allows archive site operators to get some idea of
   who is using
their services.

I have come across FTP servers that deny access if the email address is
invalid.

Regards,
-sm
Received on 2002-01-03