Justin B Rye ha scritto: > I've just noticed that your post to mentors: > http://lists.debian.org/debian-mentors/2008/11/msg00056.html > had some useful extra context. > > Giuseppe Iuculano wrote: >> It uses inetd, and (debian) default installation takes over port 8080. User can >> change it editing /etc/services > > Running out of inetd is sufficiently unusual that it might well be > worth hinting at in the package description, so that users don't > expect a freshly-installed F*EX server to be visibly "running". > > (Wait, editing /etc/services? /etc/services says 8080 is > "webcache"; does fex mess around with that? Oh well, I'm wandering > miles out of debian-l10n-english's jurisdiction.) At the end of /etc/services we have a # Local services section, and this is the right place to define fex port. For example after a default (debian package) installation you will have: # Local services fexsrv 8080/tcp #F*EX Other package makes the same job, you can investigate it with: apt-cache rdepends openbsd-inetd >>> 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? > > If the only machine I control is a home PC connected to the Internet > by a dialup modem, it's quite possible that the _best_ solution is > to compress the file with rzip, chop it up and send the bits via a > series of e-mails. Yes, this is a possible solution. >> FTP should make its job, but I must >> create/delete account for every file, or create an anonymous FTP account. > > No, I just set up anonymous FTP and make it read-only. Even easier, > "apt-get install apache2" and chuck the file in the webroot. That's > assuming I've got root access on a well-networked server, of course. > This doesn't provide the same privacy options than an unencrypted email, anonymous-FTP = file-world-readable . You need some extra tuning. >> 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. > > Yes, so F*EX has advantages in terms of organising a particular > *workflow* that makes life easier for admins with many (perhaps > widely dispersed) non-technical users. That's its selling point, so > it needs to be clear from the description. Oh, yes, this is the real purpose >>> 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 > > It's not documentation, it's a script that won't work. SSL is > possible, but it'll take some effort to set up. You are right. > But isn't e-mail our benchmark _wrong_ solution? And in fact it > seems to me that files sent via F*EX are slightly less secure than > ones sent via gmail against some privacy dangers - for instance, the > danger that the _admin_ might not be trustworthy. > Welcome to the Internet :) Do you know with *absolute certainty* that a gmail admin can't read your email? > I don't need to. They tell me what file they're talking about, and > I put it on the webserver. F*EX is for situations where that > workflow isn't adequate. This is true if you have 1 < users < 20 , when you have a lot of user/customer you can't. > > After all this moaning the least I should do is suggest an > alternative first paragraph: > > Description: web service for transferring very large files > F*EX (Frams's Fast File EXchange) is a service that can be used to > allow users anywhere on the Internet to exchange very large files > quickly and conveniently. > Thanks. Giuseppe.
Attachment:
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature