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Re: [RFR] fex package



Justin B Rye ha scritto:

> I don't see any /usr/sbin/fex... or anything in /etc/init.d/... to
> me it looks like a bunch of CGI-scripts.  But assuming you're right,
> shouldn't it "Provides: httpd", or possibly "Conflicts"?  Does it
> take over port 80? 

It uses inetd, and (debian) default installation takes over port 8080. User can
change it editing /etc/services


> Why not just mail the file?  Or up/download it via FTP?  These
> methods may have disadvantages, but none of them intrinsically limit 
> the file size, so I don't understand why F*EX is advertised so
> heavily on this basis.

Email isn't conceived for file transfer. Do you think that sending an email with
a 100MB file size attachment is a good idea? FTP should make its job, but I must
create/delete account for every file, or create an anonymous FTP account.

Vincent Bernat wrote:

> This kind of service is really  useful for users that keep sending large
> piece of data through mail servers  and then complain that this does not
> work. They  need an  easy service allowing  to send large  files without
> learning something new  (like a FTP client), which is  almost as fast as
> attaching a document  to an email and provides  the same privacy options
> than  an unencrypted  email (so,  uploading to  a shared  FTP is  not an
> option, unless  you excessively tune  the FTP server).   Otherwise, they
> will just keep sending files via mail.




> I see no explanation in /usr/share/doc/fex/SSL - only a shell
> fragment with undeclared dependencies on openssl and xinetd (as
> opposed to openbsd-inetd, which _is_ in the package dependencies).

Right, upstream recommends xinetd and that doc uses it

> Data transferred unencrypted by default, authentication via
> passwords sent in e-mails... this software was first released in
> March, yet it's doing a passable impression of a nineties relic.

Come on, I installed this service about a month ago, and feedbacks from my users
are extremely positive. Why? Because it's easy and provides the same privacy
options than an unencrypted email.

> 
> Presumably it has some big advantage that makes up for all this, but
> I can't work out quite what its selling point is, given that it's
> taken for granted that I have root access on a web-accessible host.

Do you give root access to your user/customer ?


> If they're not in fex (or a package fex depends on), fex's package
> description shouldn't promise to provide them.  Instead there should
> be a pointer to the package that does provide them.


Right, thanks.


Giuseppe.

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