secure FTP

[Richard Gaskin]

Randall Reetz wrote:
> This whole discussion makes me sad. What xtalk did for programming
> (in the era of applications) has not been done for the network (in
> the era of distributed logic and content).

I feel more optimistic.  Sure, Secure FTP is an unusually complex beast,
and so we don't yet have a simple interface for that protocol the way we
do for nearly everything else.

But we do have nearly everything else:  most common HTTP and FTP calls
are one-liners in Rev, and we have raw sockets supported with syntax
that makes them easier to use than Apple events so we can build chat
clients and just about anything else you can think of.

A lot of the folks here have delivered a wide variety of network
applications, both client and server, using what we have right now.
Heck, more than a decade ago Scott Raney put together a simple HTTP
server (mchttpd.mc) in an afternoon and gave it away as just one example
of what can be done.

Sure, if we had a simple built-in solution for Secure FTP I'd jump on it
in a minute.  But its absence isn't slowing down anything else I'm
building, many of which make extensive use of Internet protocols.

While Secure FTP can be very helpful for many applications, it's not a
show-stopper for a good many more.  There are still a million profitable
apps waiting to be built with what Rev has right now.

No need to be sad.  Better to put that energy into cutting code - there 
are apps to ship! :)

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
  _______________________________________________________
  Rev tips, tutorials and more: http://www.revJournal.com