Non recursive FTP

[fmw1]

I have the misery of having to use satellite internet access. When I download, upload or delete things the vast majority of time is spent changing directories, not transferring files. This is due to the time required to get the data to and from the satellite. I have a download going now that I began 12 hours ago and it is about 2/3 finished. It is expensive because my internet access is metered. In an urban connecion it would likely take about 15 minutes. Alas nothing other satellite is available out here in the boonies.

My questions. Can Filezilla be setup to go to the satellite, download everything selected and then return when it is finished without searching every directory independently? If not is there an FTP program that will? Thanks for any help.

[botg]

Nothing you can do, this is the way FTP works.

Try moving to a location with better Internet connectivity.

[gamer191]

Any idea why? FTP has existed for over 50 years, so surely there's a reason why the ability to recursively list directories has never been added to the standard?

[botg]

Simple inertia. It has never been a necessity to add this functionality to the standard, so it won't be added to the standard. Also, FTP has never been designed with very high latencies in mind: The protocol does not support pipelining, there can only ever be one command at a time, and the separate data connections only add to the amount of round-trips required.

[gamer191]

I get that it won't be added to the standard (RFC 959). I'm curious why it doesn't get added as an extension, similar to https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft- ... xtensions/

[gamer191]

I see it got proposed at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft- ... -transfer/ in 2005. Any idea what happened with that proposal?

[botg]

Lack of public interest. With the second draft, it's also a very poorly thought-out.