Open Source Evaluation - FileZilla

Michael NyeITEC 400Assignment 14-1Professor D’AndreaFranklin UniversityApril 10, 2008

What is FileZilla?

• An open source FTP client that works across many platforms including Windows, Linux and Mac OS X

• Designed to be fast, reliable, and intuitive making FTP transfers quick and simple

• Supports FTP, SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) protocols (FileZilla Project, 2008)

(FileZilla Project, 2008)

FileZilla Features

• The main window is very clean and intuitive

• Includes folder and file views for the local and remote file systems, a queue manager with real time transfer stats, and quick connect settings

• Drag and drop of files is also possible

(FileZilla, n.d.)Figure 1 FileZilla Main Window. Note. From FileZilla Project website. (2008). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://filezilla-project.org/images/screenshots/fz3_win_main.png

FileZilla Features

• Site Manager is a powerful tool that keeps track of various servers, settings and login information

• Makes frequent connections quick and easy

• Don’t have to remember addresses and login information

(FileZilla, n.d.)

Figure 2 FileZilla Site Manager. Note. From FileZilla Project website. (2008). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://filezilla-project.org/images/screenshots/fz3_win_sitemanager.png

FileZilla Features• The settings panel

contains a wide variety of customizable options including:• Connection Settings• Transfer Settings (number

of concurrent down and uploads, transfer speeds)

• Visual Themes• Language Settings• Automatic Updates• Logging and Debugging• Network Configuration

Wizard(FileZilla Project, 2008)

Figure 3 FileZilla Settings panel. Note. From FileZilla Project website. (2008). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://filezilla-project.org/images/screenshots/fz3_win_settings.png

FileZilla Features

• Extensive language support, over 40 different languages

• Includes support for right-to-left oriented languages

• Constantly update and improve translations from user input

(FileZilla Project, 2008)Figure 4 FileZilla Language Support. Note. From FileZilla Project website. (2008). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://filezilla-project.org/images/screenshots/fz3_win_rtl.png

FileZilla Features

• Filename filters are a very useful tool

• Filters can be setup to determine the file types and names of files that will be displayed

• Can eliminate sifting through long file lists to find what you are looking for

(FileZilla, n.d.) Figure 5 FileZilla Filename Filters. Note. From FileZilla Project website. (2008). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://filezilla-project.org/images/screenshots/fz3_win_filters.png

FileZilla Ups and Downs• Ups

• Fast, reliable, and intuitive• Site Manager• Transfer Queue with real time

stats• Customizable settings and

themes• Resource friendly• Language Support• Cross-platform app.• File and directory views with

drag and drop• Transfer from multiple servers

at once• Secure Connections• FREE!(Nistor, 2006)

• Downs• No task scheduler• No keyboard shortcuts• Small help file(Nistor, 2006)

FileZilla Facts• FileZilla was created by

Tim Kosse and two classmates as a computer science project in 2001

• When deciding on which license to release the code, they chose GNU Public License because they didn’t think they would sell any copies if they used a commercial license

(FileZilla, n.d.)

• Today, FileZilla is listed as the 11th most downloaded project of all time on SourceForge.net (2008) with almost 36 million downloads

• Won the 2006 Community Choice Award for the Networking category on SourceForge (2008)

References

Download.com (2008). FileZilla 3.0.9.1. Retrieved April 6, 2008 from

http://www.download.com/FileZilla/3000-2160_4-10308966.html

FileZilla. (n.d.). Retrieved April 6, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileZilla

FileZilla Project. (2008). FileZilla Client 3.0.9.1. Downloaded April 5, 2008 from

http://filezilla-project.org/index.php

Nistor, C. (2006). FTP transfers made easier! Retrieved April 6, 2008 from

http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/FileZilla-Review-24475.shtml

Sourceforge.net (2008). FileZilla Client 3.0.9.1. Retrieved April 6, 2008 from

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=21558