anonymous FTP

networking An interactive service provided by many

Internet hosts allowing any user to transfer documents,

files, programs, and other archived data using File TransferProtocol. The user logs in using the special user name

"ftp" or "anonymous" and his e-mail address as password.

He then has access to a special directory hierarchy containing

the publically accessible files, typically in a subdirectory

called "pub". This is usually a separate area from files used

by local users.

A reference like

ftp: euagate.eua.ericsson.se /pub/eua/erlang/info

means that files are available by anonymous FTP from the host

called euagate.eua.ericsson.se in the directory (or file)

/pub/eua/erlang/info. Sometimes the hostname will be

followed by an Internet address in parentheses. The

directory will usually be given as a path relative to the

anonymous FTP login directory. A reference to a file

available by FTP may also be in the form of a URL starting

"ftp:".

See also Archie, archive site, EFS, FTP by mail,

World-Wide Web.

(1995-11-26)