I have decided to open source the command line FTP client for Windows that I started writing in 1999. After that initial implementation, I occasionally added new commands that I found missing.

Why did I write an FTP client? I just wanted to understand how FTP worked. There was a lot you could find on the internet at that time if you knew how to navigate with FTP (and it’s still true). Although it’s not as commonplace, it’s still used frequently when you just need to get files from point A to point B.

The FTP protocol itself is an interesting piece of internet history and I find to be a good read. I spent a lot of time reading RFC 959 and at one time knew many of the obscure aspects of it. I even implemented an FTP server for Windows.

I’ll update this blog entry with the link to the project once I have put it up.