Alternatives to Filezilla

[Paul McKeown]

Can anyone recommend a decent alternative to Filezilla?

I've used Filezilla for at least a decade, but my relations with that formerly excellent piece of software (henceforth to be known as FailZilla) have come to an abrupt and irreconcilable end. Long story short, new laptop, very fine piece of kit. Spent time installing the applications that I use on a regular basis, basically replicating my desktop environment. Came to install FileZilla, went to the http://www.filezilla-project.org/download page, where prominently displayed is the sourceforge download "Trusted for Open Source" (ha!). Clicked on the link, downloaded and ran the installer only to discover that it was trying to install a whole bunch of browser hijacks and other filth. Happily I wasn't born yesterday, no damage done.

Bit of googling reveals that this has been going on for some time.

Apparently for some time now, Filezilla has been attempting to monetize its good reputation by directing its more hapless users to drive-by download hell, whilst attempting to say, you don't have to use the bundled installers. As if that was any sort of excuse for banditry of this kind.

Tomorrow I will be uninstalling Filezilla from all my computers and contacting everyone I have advised to install it over many years to uninstall it without delay.

Hence the question - can anyone recommend an alternative fully featured FOSS file transfer client for the Windows environment?

[Simon Ansell]

I noticed in a recent update Filezilla had some extra browser hijack extension install selected by default, fortunately I caught the checkbox for once.

WinSCP is a decent alternative.

[Paul McKeown]

Thanks, Simon. Yes, WinSCP has a good reputation.

The bait and switch that FailZilla has pulled is unbelievable. What makes it even more galling is that its author, Tim Kosse, also writes chess software. Wouldn't trust any of it.

[Simon Ansell]

It's one of my pet hates, too, but to be honest I'm not sure how much control software authors have over what is included with the installer if they distribute via a repository such as SourceForge (see here). Also I could be off the mark with my comment about the recent update above - in the thread you linked to, one of the devs claims there's nothing bundled with the in-software update - maybe it was something else I was updating.

The way to monetise open-source is simply to ask for donations IMO. There are plenty of people, such as me, willing to pay a small amount for use of good software.

[Paul McKeown]

It's one of my pet hates, too, but to be honest I'm not sure how much control software authors have over what is included with the installer if they distribute via a repository such as SourceForge (see here). Also I could be off the mark with my comment about the recent update above - in the thread you linked to, one of the devs claims there's nothing bundled with the in-software update - maybe it was something else I was updating.

Simon, you should go through the whole of the thread I linked to and follow the links provided by some of the contributors. It becomes very clear indeed that the devs know exactly what is going on, just they "need to make money". Their claims of innocence since August last year, it would seem, have no credibility by now.

[Simon Ansell]

Hmm, fair enough, I'll take your word for it. I did only scan the last page.

[Paul McKeown]

Just remembered FireFTP, which I had extended Firefox with years ago, but had disabled as I didn't use it much. Might give it a whirl for a time.

Bitterly disappointing to find a formerly highly respected piece of open source software being used as a vector for malware due to the authors' cupidity and ethical poverty, the same day as I posted a reference to the British government taking a strong step, in mandating the use of odf as the official document format, to promoting the use of open source.

[Paolo Casaschi]

The way to monetise open-source is simply to ask for donations IMO. There are plenty of people, such as me, willing to pay a small amount for use of good software.

It does not work, at least for small projects: I have a "donations" link on the pgn4web homepage that never got any attention. Relying on good intentions is not enough to monetize open-source

[Simon Ansell]

Just remembered FireFTP...

Cyberduck might be worth a look too, but I've never used it.

The way to monetise open-source is simply to ask for donations IMO. There are plenty of people, such as me, willing to pay a small amount for use of good software.

It does not work, at least for small projects: I have a "donations" link on the pgn4web homepage that never got any attention. Relying on good intentions is not enough to monetize open-source

Paolo, you're probably right about smaller projects and you'd know better than me, but I would have thought software as widely used and well established as FileZilla would manage somehow. Though I have to say I've honestly never noticed the donations link on the pgn4web homepage, maybe it needs to be more prominent? Given that I use pgn4web in a couple of places, I'll do something about it. But later, as I need to sleep now!

[Paolo Casaschi]

Bitterly disappointing to find a formerly highly respected piece of open source software being used as a vector for malware due to the authors' cupidity and ethical poverty

Could it be that the FileZilla authors are also bitterly disappointed by your cupidity and ethical poverty when using regularly their software for years and never make any donation to their project?
Also, to be fair with the FileZilla authors, the "malware issue" is also clearly mentioned on their homepage, see "2014-01-28 - Advisory: Malware downloads on third-party websites" at https://filezilla-project.org
I do not know much whether FileZilla is safe to use or not, but a bit of research might help before using any software and before taking the ethical high road.

[Paul McKeown]

Bitterly disappointing to find a formerly highly respected piece of open source software being used as a vector for malware due to the authors' cupidity and ethical poverty

Could it be that the FileZilla authors are also bitterly disappointed by your cupidity and ethical poverty when using regularly their software for years and never make any donation to their project?
Also, to be fair with the FileZilla authors, the "malware issue" is also clearly mentioned on their homepage, see "2014-01-28 - Advisory: Malware downloads on third-party websites" at https://filezilla-project.org
I do not know much whether FileZilla is safe to use or not, but a bit of research might help before using any software and before taking the ethical high road.

Casachi,

a) you don't know what money I have or have not given
b) foisting s**t on your users is no way to respond to disappointment with one's finances. From such thinking it's a but a small step to outright larceny.
c) that applies irrespective of any warnings you may give on your web-page, particularly when the great green button on that web-page leads you directly to the malware source
d) that you don't understand this, or would wish to dispute it, makes me wary of your personal practises

P.S. Only an idiot could make the statement you have.

P.P.S. I really wish there was a good way to avoid dealing with your posts on this forum, short of viewing it through a feed reader with filters.

[Paul McKeown]

I have just written a letter to Trading Standards concerning Filezilla. I think it's time the authors were put out of business for such malpractice.

[John McKenna]

Here's a bit of background for the uninitiated -

http://www.openssh.com/windows.html

Altruism will always be a poor substitute as long as Capitalism exists.

[Paul McKeown]

Nothing to do with capitalism, just the lack of old-fashioned virtues such as honesty, decency and honour.

[John McKenna]

Paul,

In my own inimitable way I agree that "virtues such as honesty, decency and honour" have little, if nothing, to do with capitalism in these latter days.

John