What is Anonymous FTP?

Many universities, government agencies, companies, and private individuals set up publicly accessible archives on the Internet. There are thousands of these sites that contain a myriad of programs, data files, and informational text. Maintainers of such sites establish public directories and files that you may access via FTP, usually in a directory named 'pub.' You can often find specific directions or information about the site in greeting messages or files with names like README.

You can use an FTP client such as Hummingbird FTP for Windows or Transmit for Mac OS to connect to an anonymous FTP site, or you can use FTP from the command line in Unix. Typically you will need to use the username anonymous and an arbitrary password. Most sites will ask you to enter your email address as the password. If your login is successful, you can then browse the public directories on the other computer.

You can also use anonymous FTP conveniently with your Web browser. For example, to connect to mirrors.aol.com, use the URL:

ftp://mirrors.aol.com/

Remember that anonymous FTP is a privilege granted by the organization that owns the computer to which you are connecting, and you should show good manners in your usage. Do not transfer an excessive amount of material. Try to restrict your transfers to off-peak hours. Many FTP sites are used heavily and you may need patience to connect.