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smh · Oct 6, 2002, 07:29 PM

Hi,

First of all I'm new here, but I'm a long time Mac owner, lover and "activist". I still have my IIci and I use it at times. Now for my DP G4, I wonder what the best OS/X FTP client is? I currently use Fetch4, but before I pay for a permanent license I thought it would be better to hear your comments.

Your replies are deeply appreciated.

Regards,

S.M Hassani

schep · Oct 6, 2002, 07:39 PM

if you are related to a educational institution you can get a free eduactional licence of fetch

Subzero Diesel949 · Oct 6, 2002, 07:40 PM

Fetch without a doubt.

goMac · Oct 6, 2002, 07:50 PM

I like transmit myself.

smeger · Oct 6, 2002, 07:53 PM

I like Interarchy.

Technicolor · Oct 6, 2002, 07:57 PM

I'll second Transmit. I can't wait for the 2.0 release.

m4rtin · Oct 6, 2002, 08:53 PM

I think Transmit is the best ftp app currently available for OS X, I too can't wait for the 2.0 release as there's still features I miss from my OS 9 app of choice = Vicomsoft FTP Pro. I am still awaiting the release of the 'promised' Vicomsoft product but am starting to lose faith in Vicomsoft.
I'm also interested to know what the plan is for ftp using "Go/Connect to server" in OS X. Some posts I've read indicate Apple might be putting more effort into making this a usable system (currently it can lock the system).

CharlesS · Oct 6, 2002, 09:21 PM

Fetch can decode BinHex and MacBinary on the fly as you download the files, which is important since, as we know, StuffIt 7 has problems with BinHex files.

smh · Oct 6, 2002, 09:38 PM

Hey folks,

Many thanks you for the swift info, you people are great! I now like Transmit too, it feels somewhat better than Fetch, but the OS/X version is still in beta. I guess I'll keep 'em both for a while, then pay for the better one.

Regards,

S.M Hassani

rob7erto · Oct 6, 2002, 09:57 PM

Originally posted by Technicolor:
I'll second Transmit. I can't wait for the 2.0 release.

Anyone have info about when this should be out and what changes it includes?

Gary Finley · Oct 6, 2002, 09:58 PM

I've tried Transmit, Fetch, and Gideon. Captain FTP is the clear winner in my opinion. It has all of the features that I want, and a clean, uncluttered UI. The authors are quick to respond to Email, and have just issued a release customized for 10.2. This is a thoroughly good product, with all the features that I want, and they offer free registration for personal use.
http://captainftp.xdsnet.de

Zimphire · Oct 6, 2002, 10:40 PM

I like transmit, I would LOVE to say "FTP from the finder" But alas it still doesn't work right.

Skywalkers new Hand · Oct 7, 2002, 12:39 AM

Transmit 2.0 is in beta testing and a compleate re-write. Should be out soon and my guess is it will be awesome.

workerbee · Oct 7, 2002, 03:46 AM

RBrowser?
Works nicely here, and is free if you don't use sftp or ssh.

juanvaldes · Oct 7, 2002, 03:57 AM

All of them have crashed on me at the worst of times, except one. Command line baby!

m4rtin · Oct 7, 2002, 04:08 AM

Originally posted by Gary Finley:
Captain FTP is the clear winner in my opinion. ...
http://captainftp.xdsnet.de

Call me a snob if you like, but I can't use software that comes from a website like that!

Those flames.......

Zimphire · Oct 7, 2002, 04:53 AM

I wishing for the days back when flash didn't exist.

Too bad people have to take a good thing, and abuse it.

macmike42 · Oct 7, 2002, 07:57 AM

Originally posted by juanvaldes:
All of them have crashed on me at the worst of times, except one. Command line baby!

Funny that you don't mention which, so I assume your talking about the standard BSD ftp command. My favorite (I've tried them all, GUI and CLI), is by far and away ncftp. It's CLI, it's fast, friendly, supports all kinds of odd servers (like friggin' WebSTAR), has great bookmarks, and is highly customizable. Plus it (kinda) supports drag and drop thanks to Terminal.app supporting it! (OK, that's a stretch)

gadster · Oct 7, 2002, 10:31 AM

Originally posted by m4rtin:

Call me a snob if you like, but I can't use software that comes from a website like that!

Those flames.......

Man that is one fugly website...

NeXTLoop · Oct 7, 2002, 11:20 AM

Transmit 2.0 is in beta right now. I can't give any details due to the terms of the beta-testing agreement, but suffice it to say... if you like the current version, you'll love 2.0!

Guy Incognito · Oct 7, 2002, 11:56 AM

Originally posted by NeXTLoop:
Transmit 2.0 is in beta right now. I can't give any details due to the terms of the beta-testing agreement, but suffice it to say... if you like the current version, you'll love 2.0!

Carbon or cocoa...and I don't want none of the 'why does it matter' crap. It does to me.

angelmb · Oct 7, 2002, 01:33 PM

I also like current Transmit version, I hope to see 2.0 soon.

Got a file you can not delete?, open Transmit, browse to that file and send it to the trahs in Transmit window, bye file, bye...

Even better, I have two Macs, a Pismo and a Yosemite, I can access to the Yosemite from the Pismo with the account is not current active, (of course also with the active account) and get what I want... and so. Great app.

foamy · Oct 7, 2002, 01:46 PM

I use fetch, as well as curl and ncftp in the terminal for now, but I have been watching the developement of LiFTP over at arstechnica and it looks really promising.

Check it out for yourself.

Link to thread.

NeXTLoop · Oct 7, 2002, 02:38 PM

Cocoa

juanvaldes · Oct 7, 2002, 04:01 PM

Originally posted by macmike42:
Funny that you don't mention which, so I assume your talking about the standard BSD ftp command. My favorite (I've tried them all, GUI and CLI), is by far and away ncftp. It's CLI, it's fast, friendly, supports all kinds of odd servers (like friggin' WebSTAR), has great bookmarks, and is highly customizable. Plus it (kinda) supports drag and drop thanks to Terminal.app supporting it! (OK, that's a stretch)

yeah default. Haven't tried any other ones, know of any that supports upload/download queue?

Bluebomber21XX · Oct 7, 2002, 04:21 PM

I'll also vouch for Transmit. I've used Interarchy, Fetch, Transmit, and FTP from the Finder, and Transmit has been the best overall.

Worth $25!

shadybirdstan · Oct 7, 2002, 04:23 PM

CaptainFTP, I have ZERO complaints so far using this app.

KidRed · Oct 7, 2002, 09:13 PM

Transmit.

MacGorilla · Oct 7, 2002, 09:29 PM

wget, unless your command line shy, then Transmit really rocks.

Sarc · Oct 8, 2002, 12:23 AM

OSXIGEN People, best Cocoa FTP Client.
Very good app.

Sarc

smeger · Oct 8, 2002, 01:01 AM

I guess I'm gonna have to give Transmit a shot after all this feedback. I used it right after OS X 10.0 came out and it sucked bad, so I never looked at it again.

dark3lf · Oct 8, 2002, 10:29 AM

Originally posted by foamy:
I use fetch, as well as curl and ncftp in the terminal for now, but I have been watching the developement of LiFTP over at arstechnica and it looks really promising.

Check it out for yourself.

Link to thread.

I agree. LiFTP is a great client, IMHO the best available on OS X. It's VERY FAST, small and stable, though it isn't nearly as feature rich as the other clients. Definitely give it a try. The price is right: FREE.

poocat · Oct 8, 2002, 12:27 PM

one more throw down for transmit.

beats interarchy/fetch cold, imexp.

cli is brilliant, if you want it, but if you don't, check transmit.

pc.

gator · Oct 8, 2002, 01:39 PM

LiFTP seems to be up and coming, I've only tried RBrowserLite and CaptainFTP (free stuff is great)... LiFTP is still has a ways to go, but for basic FTP stuff it does pretty well. It's over at arsware.org for those interested.

CheesePuff · Oct 8, 2002, 02:40 PM

Finder! It's so damn cool and feature full.

Subzero Diesel949 · Oct 8, 2002, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by CheesePuff:
Finder! It's so damn cool and feature full.

Yeah, we all know nothing can stack up to the Finder.

Guy Incognito · Oct 8, 2002, 03:12 PM

I loved Transmit in OS 9...considering Panic has a sense of aesthetics (cool-looking icons and graphics) and considering they've managed to make a carbon app (Audion) not suck (it's apparently hard...take a look at all the crappy carbon apps out there), I have no doubt in my mind that Transmit will be the best FTP client for OS X.

I'm slowly purging my HD of carbon apps, Transmit 2.0 will definitely be a welcome addition to my cocoa-fetish.

swiz · Oct 8, 2002, 03:44 PM

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
I loved Transmit in OS 9...considering Panic has a sense of aesthetics (cool-looking icons and graphics) and considering they've managed to make a carbon app (Audion) not suck (it's apparently hard...take a look at all the crappy carbon apps out there), I have no doubt in my mind that Transmit will be the best FTP client for OS X.

I'm slowly purging my HD of carbon apps, Transmit 2.0 will definitely be a welcome addition to my cocoa-fetish.

I hear that. Its carbon-ness is getting a swift kick in the pants soon I hope.

Moonray · Oct 8, 2002, 04:23 PM

I've experienced that most OS X GUI FTP clients have problems either with resuming uploads, SSL connections or both.
My hope is that Apple's FTP integration into the Finder will work well (the start was not any promising though).

-

absmiths · Oct 8, 2002, 07:08 PM

I have always liked NetFinder, but it doesn't do SSL.

Nathan Adams · Oct 9, 2002, 08:24 AM

I've tried Transmit - but even though I can connect to my server - it then displays NO files on that server, and I basically can't do anything - therefore, the program is useless to me. CaptainFTP worked though

Gee4orce · Oct 9, 2002, 11:12 AM

Do any Mac FTP clients work through a firewall (including command-line ones) ? A firewall that needs a username/password ?

This is a critical feature for me.

Adam Betts · Oct 9, 2002, 01:52 PM

Powerful FTP:
Fetch

Prettiest FTP:
Transmit

Can't wait for Transmit 2

Thor · Oct 9, 2002, 02:57 PM

Wow.. I can't believe only one mention of RBrowser(Lite).

I used to use Transmit.

I've tried them all, but RBrowser is what I use.

It's a fairly decent Finder replacement too-- sort by date in column view(!), set type/creator info on files, etc.
Plus, it's got the NeXT shelf built right in!

I'm following liftp, tho.

moki · Oct 9, 2002, 03:22 PM

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:

Carbon or cocoa...and I don't want none of the 'why does it matter' crap. It does to me.

OK, I'll bite. Why does it matter?

Oh wait, I get it -- you don't want to use it if it is cocoa, because of all of the horribly slow and buggy iApps from Apple that are cocoa (iChat, iCal, iPhoto)?

Concerning ftp clients, I use the commandline too -- I used to like Fetch (3.0 version), and Transmit is nice, but it crashes on me so often it isn't worth it.

moki · Oct 9, 2002, 03:27 PM

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
I loved Transmit in OS 9...considering Panic has a sense of aesthetics (cool-looking icons and graphics) and considering they've managed to make a carbon app (Audion) not suck (it's apparently hard...take a look at all the crappy carbon apps out there), I have no doubt in my mind that Transmit will be the best FTP client for OS X.

I'm slowly purging my HD of carbon apps, Transmit 2.0 will definitely be a welcome addition to my cocoa-fetish.

You're not going to be using much software, then. All of the major applications for Mac OS X are, and will continue to be, written using Carbon. All Microsoft apps. All Adobe apps. Quark (when it finally comes), and so on. Also, you'll have to ditch many apps from Apple, such as iTunes (probably the best iApp out there).

It is positively silly to choose your applications based on the API the programmer decided to use, especially when there are good and bad apps from both sides of the fence.

Guy Incognito · Oct 9, 2002, 04:57 PM

Originally posted by moki:

You're not going to be using much software, then. All of the major applications for Mac OS X are, and will continue to be, written using Carbon. All Microsoft apps. All Adobe apps. Quark (when it finally comes), and so on. Also, you'll have to ditch many apps from Apple, such as iTunes (probably the best iApp out there).

It is positively silly to choose your applications based on the API the programmer decided to use, especially when there are good and bad apps from both sides of the fence.

You misunderstood me. I'm throwing out the crappy carbon apps. There are tons of em. iTunes ain't one of 'em. I can't throw out the Finder either. Audion is good. Your Snapz Pro is good. Richard Bannister's emulators are good (and any games really since they don't make much use of carbon UI objects.)

I just find that most carbon apps don't make use of all the OS X features that are free in cocoa. Most carbon apps are an unpleasant experience and many hybrid OS 9/OS X carbon apps use OS 9 icons and makes the OS X app look like total crap.

CharlesS · Oct 9, 2002, 05:22 PM

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:

You misunderstood me. I'm throwing out the crappy carbon apps. There are tons of em. iTunes ain't one of 'em. I can't throw out the Finder either. Audion is good. Your Snapz Pro is good. Richard Bannister's emulators are good (and any games really since they don't make much use of carbon UI objects.)

I just find that most carbon apps don't make use of all the OS X features that are free in cocoa. Most carbon apps are an unpleasant experience and many hybrid OS 9/OS X carbon apps use OS 9 icons and makes the OS X app look like total crap.

Actually, in the context of FTP clients (the topic of this thread, remember?), Cocoa apps have been really bad until recently. Why is this? Prior to Jaguar, there was no API to allow you to drag and drop a non-existent file to the Finder, get the path you dragged it to, and create the file in that place. That means that it has not been possible to download a file by dragging and dropping it to the Finder. I rely on that feature, so I was unable to use any Cocoa FTP client until Jaguar came out. Even now, some haven't implemented this yet. Some don't seem to want to - they've mostly gone with the "two paned" metaphor with one pane showing the contents of the local filesystem and letting you drag things that way, and have trouble with the new API that Apple has added being far from ideal, so that it's hard to implement it without breaking their existing system. One of the Cocoa FTP apps (can't remember which) makes you hold down a modifier key to drag something to the Finder.

Every Carbon FTP client that I know of supports drag and drop.

Not the apps' fault themselves, I know. I'm grateful to Apple for adding the dragPromisedFilesOfTypes: API, but they really need to go farther than that and add the ability to write NSFilePromisePboardType directly to the pasteboard so that it and other pasteboard types can be written simultaneously.

End of rant.

OwlBoy · Oct 9, 2002, 06:50 PM

ncftp.

-Owl

Moonray · Oct 9, 2002, 11:55 PM

lftp.

-Moonray

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