Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!psuvax1!psuvm!psuecl!jazz!fenner From: fenner@jazz.psu.edu (Bill Fenner) Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: BITFTP grief! Message-ID: <1991May23.161713.1243@ecl.psu.edu> Date: 23 May 91 20:17:10 GMT References: <7V9a31w163w@phoenix.com> Organization: Penn State University Mechanical Engineering Department Lines: 30 Nntp-Posting-Host: jazz.psu.edu In article <7V9a31w163w@phoenix.com> stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley) writes: | UUCP was connected to anonymous ftp sites via BITFTP. UUCP is no longer |connected to anonymous ftp via BITFTP. Both are facts, both verified. Maybe John would do well to look at the name of the service. It's called "BITftp". The reason it's called BITftp is because it was originally meant to be used by BITnet sites. The fact that it later became usable by UUCP and Internet sites is a coincidence. The people who run it finally got around to limiting it back to its original usage. Just because you _can_ use something, doesn't mean you are allowed, or are supposed to. BITFTP was never meant for use by UUCP sites, and the current restrictions on it reflect that fact. Just because there were no restrictions before doesn't mean that it's a change of policy to implement restrictions now. From the help file from BITFTP: BITFTP provides a mail interface to the FTP portion of the IBM TCP/IP product ("FAL") running on the Princeton VM system, to allow BITNET/NetNorth/EARN users to ftp files from sites on the Internet. I see no mention there of "to allow UUCP users to ftp files from sites on the Internet." It's for BITNET/NetNorth/EARN. If you were using BITFTP from a UUCP site, you were using it for other than its intended purpose, and shouldn't be surprised that it's gone. Bill -- Bill Fenner fenner@jazz.psu.edu ..psuvax1!hogbbs!wcfpc!wcf wcf@hogbbs.scol.pa.us (+1 814 238-9633 2400MNP5)