Ftp

[WrigleyF]

Is it still worthwhile to set up / learn how to use FTP, or do you think FTP will be replaced in the near future?

[jeremya]

probably not replaced, but the backend technicalities hidden.

[nickh]

FTP's been around for a really long time. There're superior solutions, but FTP's still wildly popular with newbs. I reckon that FTP will continue to be used pervasively for the next few years.

However, I strongly discourage using FTP. It sends your username and password in plaintext (IE: unencrypted), so it's possible for malicious people or programs to intercept your credentials.

At the very least, I recommend SFTP (Secure FTP). It encrypts communications between FTP clients and servers. However, both the client and server must support SFTP.

The best solution is SCP (Secure Copy). It piggybacks on SSH (Secure Shell), but is rarely used on Windows servers.