FTP Client For Firefox

cuv writes "As Firefox becomes more and more popular, programmers are becoming savvy to Mozilla's excellent development platform. I happen to be one of those and I would like to share the FTP client that I've designed for Firefox. Give it a try, report any bugs, and if you haven't already: switch over to Firefox! Better yet: start developing!"

Comments

#!?% FF install protection

[clsc]

"To protect your computer, firefox prevented this site from installing software on your computer"

duh... how is it you turn this off, again?

Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[jgaynor]

Very nice - this was one of the features I always liked about IE. Does anyone know of a similar SFTP plugin (or even development of one) for moz/ff? My organization has almost deprecated FTP and I find I have trouble recommending a free, user-friendly SFTP client to users. Im sure more groups would start installing FF en masse if it could fill such a niche . . .

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Filezilla.

-g8

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[jilles]

sftp would probably require some modifications to the necko component that takes care of all network stuff in mozilla. Try filezilla (windows only) if you need a decent sftp client.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[CoolVibe]

And if you don't use windows, KDE's kio-fish will do all the neat scp stuff in konqueror.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[flyboy974]

I always recommend WinSCP for Windows boxes.

WinSCP on SourceForce

Most people get the two side view of the world, and it's open source. Supports SCP and SFTP.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[flyboy974]

I forgot to mention it does have a normal Windows Explorer view (Drag and Drop).

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[slashjames]

Note that a new version of FileZilla is under development that is cross-platform (Linux + Windows). link

Project Home Page

From a very satisfied FileZilla user.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[rsax]

My organization has almost deprecated FTP and I find I have trouble recommending a free, user-friendly SFTP client to users.

If your users are using Windows then try WinSCP.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[HungSquirrel]

I cannot find a way to use a private key file in Filezilla. Some servers (such as mine) require key based authentication. WinSCP3 is a free, easy to use open source SFTP and SCP client. Unfortunately, it doesn't support FTP! I end up using a mixture of both because of each's limitations.

Re:Excellent work - how about an SFTP client? :)

[antdude]

How about with resume capability? I haven't see any SCP and SFTP with resume features.

Email

[dago]

What about an email client for firefox ?

Re:Email

[jgaynor]

Whats wrong with Thunderbird?

Re:Email

[Youssef Adnan]

That was a joke :) The guy meant that Firefox was a stripped down Mozilla (to get rid of the bloat and to make Firefox the browser and only the browser.) Now with the addition of an FTP client, we're back to bloating it. Yet, I think with using XUL for the FTP client instead of having big chunks of code that make Mozilla and using just Gecko, an FTP client is welcome.

Re:Email

[jgaynor]

we're back to bloating it

Ha! you're right - I've got to agree. I started using fox on my sunray (thin client) at work as opposed to our globaly installed moz because it was so much lighter and faster. I havent checked the solaris port's mem usage lately but my win32 RC1.0 preview weighs in at 43 megs of ram with only a single tab open :(.

That was a joke :)

Someday I'll get the humor thing :).

Re:#!?% FF install protection

[clsc]

ah.. got it ...click the button > click allow > install

You've now got one beta ..hmm.. alpha.. tester more :)

Error installing on Debian Firefox .9.3??

[woobieman29]

When I try to install it, I get an error stating that it won't install as this extension only supports Firefox .9.3 - 1.0+. That's understandable, but I *AM* running Firefox .9.3., on Debian (Well, technically it's MEPIS Linux, but after all the upgrades it's effectively just Debian Sid with all the cool MEPIS utilities).

Oops.

Re:Error installing on Debian Firefox .9.3??

[galaxy300]

I get the same error (only supports 9.3 - 1.0+, even though I am on 0.9.3) on Win XP. Doesn't sound like an OS problem.

Re:Error installing on Debian Firefox .9.3??

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't install any extension on Slackware. I downloaded the Firefox installer from mozilla.org and yet I can't add any new functionality to it. It seems Ben Goodger doesn't care about Linux users.

I just decided to go back to the Mozilla suite after putting up with all the IE similarities (information bars, icons that are shamelessly stolen from Windows XP, endless popup dialog boxes).

Re:Error installing on Debian Firefox .9.3??

[scupper]

on my XP Pro sp1 installation of 0.10 pr I had no problems installing the extension.

Re:#!?% FF install protection

[nile_list]

Edit > Preferences > Web Features Click 'Allowed Sites' and add the site. :) Simple enough

Waste of time for me...

[kosmosik]

Everybody is doing what he/she likes but this project is waste of time. Who actually still uses FTP for uplading files (for downloading FTP is perfectly mature and you don't need another program (despite of browser) to download file via FTP)? We should move things like uploading/sending files to solutions like WebDAV, SCP, P2P based file exchange (have you noticed how many people exchange files using email which is stupid since it consumes more transfer for both sides). We have plenty of FTP clients and IMHO they should stay integrated into the system as FTP is more like SMB or NFS... I have already writen that everybody is free to do whatever, but please do not consume other developers time on this project. There is more things to do with FireFox browser itself than to make another not so good FTP client.

Re:Waste of time for me...

[brilinux]

Who actually still uses FTP for uplading files?

Often, that is that only way for people with webpages hosted elsewhere to get the files there. Before I got my FreeBSD server up, I had to upload all my webpage stuff through ftp to my hosting server. Of course, now they use sftp, but old ftp still has its uses.

Re:Waste of time for me...

[woobieman29]

Your disclaimer notwithstanding, it is in really bad taste that you have decided it is your job to tell someone else that what they are working on and giving away for free is a "waste of time". It was worth the time to this person, and I'm sure it will be useful to a lot of other people as well.

As for the WebDAV, SCP, P2P based solutions.... that's fantastic. Let us know when you have some code.

Re:Waste of time for me...

[michaelggreer]

I agree. Too many folks allow themselves the folly of comparing others' actual accomplishments with their own mere intentions.

Re:Waste of time for me...

[Toresica]

Everybody is doing what he/she likes but this project is waste of time.

From looking at the summary, it looks like he/she wanted an FTP client to stick onto Firefox, and decided to share it. That could be any of silly, excentric, fun, generous, ... but I wouldn't describe it as a waste of time.

finally!

[OmniVector]

it always annoyed me that the only way i could upload files from a windows machine without an ftp client was via IE. though i suppose i still have to "download" a client, a simple few clicks to install an extension isn't so bad.

Re:finally!

[richie2000]

I believe all TCP/IP-cabable Windoxes (yes, I just made that word up) have a simple command-line FTP client.

Re:finally!

[angrykeyboarder]

I'd have sworn you could upload files with Netscape in a manner similar to that of IE. I'd assumed Firefox and Mozilla had the same capabilities. Personally I'd always found uploading via a web browser rather clunky anyway.

For any serious ftp, I've always preferred a dedicated FTP client.

Re:finally!

[angrykeyboarder]

This is true, but then it is a simple, command-line FTP client.... ;-)

Re:finally!

[stoborrobots]

IE can upload ftp? I didn't know that... I'll have to check next time I'm in windows...

Netscape 4.x and earlier could upload files. 6+ (Mozilla-based) couldn't.

That's why you needed a dedicated client.

Re:finally!

[stoborrobots]

Oh, looks like you can if you use "folder view for ftp sites" but not if you use the regular view. Too bad that used to suck because it took twice as long to pull up as regular view. Guess what is the first option changed in my IE advanced settings...

Re:finally!

[angrykeyboarder]

Yep that it can. I did it once or twice a while back. But I still prefer a dedicated FTP client. I've used a variety of them. Right now my client of choice is Filezilla.

Re:finally!

[Frennzy]

what windows machine doesn't have an FTP client? AFAIK, there has been command line FTP since Win95.

How about webdav?

[Oriumpor]

Webfolders are garbage and don't cache anything so surfing webdav in winblows is horrible.

And no I won't use cadaver it requires cygwin.

Yes I use linux, but my workplace does not.

What's the point..?

[maskedbishounen]

Okay, so now we can have a pretty GUI FTP client from Firefox. Why?

There are plenty of good, free FTP clients to choose from. Would not an extention that's a frontend to existing FTP clients be better? Have different preset configurations so that it will work with different clients through their commandline switches? You could effectively "integrate" existing clients into Firefox this way, all without reinventing the wheel.

Then again, I haven't tried it yet. Don't really see the point. Add SFTP support and I might just have to give it a shot.

Re:What's the point..?

[real_smiff]

Roughly what i was going to say. No offense to the developer, but we already have the excellent FileZilla.

Re:What's the point..?

[brunson]

Because it's WinBlows only?

Re:What's the point..?

[real_smiff]

good point. is FileZilla windows only. XPIs are supposed to work on any platform. does this one? not that it matters to me very much..

Re:What's the point..?

[tunah]

XPI's are _not_ neccesarily meant to work on any platform. It's the installer that's cross platform, not the code itself (java runtimes, flash, etc can come in XPIs).

That said, I'd imagine this is written in xul + javascript, so it should be fine.

Re:What's the point..?

[Anonymous Coward]

Even though the current version is windows only, Filezilla 3 will be cross platform.

Re:What's the point..?

[Simon (S2)]

That said, I'd imagine this [FileZilla] is written in xul + javascript, so it should be fine.

FileZilla has nothing to do with Mozilla.
FileZilla i written in C++ as yuo can see here, and not XUL + Javascript.

Re:What's the point..?

[Simon (S2)]

FileZilla is not a XUL application.

Re:What's the point..?

[version5]

...a pretty GUI FTP client...

That's weird - when you use the word "pretty", I would use the word "bad-ripoff-of-worst-ftp-interface-ever."

Not for bleeding edge

[Oriumpor]

fireFTP 0.82 could not be installed because it is not compatible with this version of Firefox.
(fireFTP 0.82 will only work with Firefox versions from 0.9.3 to 0.10+)

cool but ...

[Anonymous Coward]

... can it browse the web?

Don't tell me what to do!

[Blakey Rat]

Don't tell me what to do!

You shutup!!

Re:Don't tell me what to do!

[Blakey Rat]

Flamebait? Man, get a sense of humor.

1.0 Support

[St. Arbirix]

As everyone and their pet monkey have said, this program doesn't run on many versions of Firefox, including 1.0. The program seems simple enough for fixing's sake, but I don't know exactly what needs to be changed for compatibility. Is there some sort of source migration guide for Firefox that I just haven't been able to find yet?

Re:1.0 Support

[angrykeyboarder]

Funny, it works for me..

Why switch?

[theantix]

I'm perfectly happy with Epiphany, thank you very much. Though Firefox is very nice too, I just prefer the Gnome integration that Epiphany has and don't need any of the features that Firefox has over Epiphany.

No, no, no!!!! :)

[billybob]

Ok, looking at the screenshot, I liked the really simple and clean interface you've designed... HOWEVER, I really have a problem with using it. Firefox is about getting RID of the bloat, not adding more to it! Granted, it's only 50K, but that's beside the point. I want firefox to be JUST my web browser, nothing more. If I wanted the kitchen sink I would install Mozilla.

And I actually was going to try using it, but when I clicked the download link it said file not found?? OH well..

Re:No, no, no!!!! :)

[jilles]

Nobody forces you to install extensions. The point of firefox is that you get a minimal amount of sane defaults and then add the stuff you need through extensions.

Re:No, no, no!!!! :)

[Planesdragon]

Granted, it's only 50K, but that's beside the point.

No, it isn't.

Firefox ALREADY is half an FTP client. Web browsers have been doing this for years, and IE does it seamlessly.

A 50k extension or even a 50k increase in the base program file is entrely appropriate. Complaining about it is like complaining about shockwave flash.

And, since it IS an extension, you should just be quiet about "bloat." "Extensibility" is just about the complete inverse of "bloat"", and you know it.

Re:No, no, no!!!! :)

[angrykeyboarder]

Actually Firefox is about starting with the bare essentials (no bloat) and then giving you the option of adding all the bloat you want.

I have a mere 72 extensions installed. And I love it. :-)

"Better yet: start developing!"

[rmohr02]

Is there a decent place to look for API information? I've looked some and all I see is a bunch of miscellaneous information that doesn't seem very organized.

Re:"Better yet: start developing!"

[dietz]

FireFox extensions aren't written in C. They GUI is written in XUL and the logic is written in Javascript. Since XUL is an XML dialect, there isn't really an "API" to speak of.

I've read this book and it was pretty good, though I didn't actually use it to develop any applications, so I can't really say how helpful it was. I mostly just read it to get an idea of what this whole XUL thing was about. It seems interesting, but pretty weird, and not necessarily much easier than writing a Java app, for example. But again, I never actually tried it, so what do I know?

Anyway, the whole process is sufficiently different from "normal" application development that you'll probably need a somewhat lengthy tutorial to get started. Unfortunately, I don't know of any online ones. (Which isn't to say that they don't exist, just that I haven't looked around enough to know.)

Re:"Better yet: start developing!"

[rmohr02]

Yes, API probably isn't the right word. I've read Creating Applications with Mozilla, and understand the basics of XUL, but not enough to make a plugin in Firefox.

have you tried any of them extensions...

[CaptainPinko]

don't need any of the features that Firefox has over Epiphany

Have you tried some of the extensions to FireFox such as adblock or everybody's favourite: the Google bar? If you do any webwork then the Web Developer plugin is sure handy. If you haven't given FireFox a try recently I suggest you do and try some of the plug-ins a try too. If only I could figure out how to get that gestures plug-in to work...

Mind you, while I love using FireFox on Windows, on Linux I use Konqueror on KDE for the same reason you use Epiphany on Gnome.

Re:have you tried any of them extensions...

[theantix]

Many (most?) Firefox extensions work with Epiphany too... though that isn't widely known. I personally use flashblock instead of adblock, but whatever works best for you. ;-) As for the google bar, I find the one that comes default in firefox works fine for me, and in Epiphany I just drag a google query bookmark (with %s where the query would go) to give me the ability to do a good search at any time.

I have tried FireFox recently... 1.0PR on both Windows and Ubuntu Linux. It's a good browser -- I'm not knocking it at all -- just that I like Epiphany more and don't see any good reason to switch away from it.

"FireFTP"?

[stinkfoot]

sort of a clunky name.

why not try... Filefox!

Re:"FireFTP"?

[superyooser]

Save that name for the file manager.

Re:"FireFTP"?

[Anonymous Coward]

why not try... Filefox!

In the news today: The Mozilla Foundation was mobbed by a group of irate Japanese users in what they claimed was an act of rebellion against the replacement of their favorite web browser with a minimalistic FTP client. Details at 5.

Bah

[Anonymous Coward]

/bin/ftp is good enough for me. You mouse jockeys can go ahead and use your GUI ftp client!

Name already taken. As Usual

[PylonHead]

Ahhahah.. Can't you mozilla people come up with your own names? There's already an FTP server using this one:

http://freshmeat.net/projects/fireftp/

Maybe "ThunderBeaver"

Great project

[Halvard]

How's about incorporating FTP over SSH? I'm only aware of SecureFX doing this in the Windows world.

Re:Great project

[kalislashdot]

WinSCP does it and it is free.

Re:#!?% FF install protection

[tunah]

If you want to disable it entirely, go to about:config and change xpinstall.whitelist.required to false.

I wrote a little extension that adds UI for this, xul error pages (browser.xul.error_pages.enabled), and popup window attributes (dom.disable_window_open_feature.*). Mainly just to learn about xul/javascript, but it's marginally less work than changing them by hand on each of my installs.

Any other hidden prefs that are really useful but you'd never know about?

savvy?

[Quinn]

Why is "savvy" linked to Pirates of the Caribbean?

Re:savvy?

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems like timothy has the same question. Notice the department:

from the where-does-the-movie-tie-in dept.

Perhaps it's some sort of commentary about Mozilla developers being pirates, in the file-sharing sense?

Re:savvy?

[ispeters]

Maybe you already know this, but the main character in Pirates of the Caribbean (played by Johnny Depp) says "Savvy?" all the time. He uses it to mean "you understand?", or "got it?", or "OK?". He also says it with a bit of a drawl, or something--it's more interesting to hear than someone dryly saying "savvy?".

Ian

Transfer Que

[pt99par]

Really nice initiative.. looks great. but a feature that is nice in an ftp client is a Transfer Que :)

Re:#!?% FF install protection

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, that whitelist is there for a reason -- to prevent Firefox from getting raped ActiveX-style like IE. Publishing an extention with unsafe settings is not cool.

in response

[cuv]

Thanks for all your comments. I appreciate them (the good ones at least :). A few of you mentioned SFTP, so I'll look into incorporating that for the next version. For now, though, you can go to the 'Preferences' tab and 'Enable SSL' which helps.
As far as 'savvy' goes, (sigh), I guess I thought I was being clever. Come on people: savvy, Jack Sparrow, savvy? see: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325980/quotes for some quotes from the movie. Thanks again for taking the time to check out the extension.

SFTP and Konqueror

[tyrione]

One great use of Konqueror is its drag n' drop between views while connecting a session via SFTP.

Yes obviously doing large projects you a versioning solution and I've got cvs and subversion. However, when not using such tools this capability is very useful.

Fireftp

[edgefield]

hi, installed ur extention about a week ago. Well done. I dont suppose u could get cracking on a bittirrent extention ;-).