FTP BY EMAIL
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FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of accessing
files that are stored on remote computer systems (sites). Files at FTP
sites are typically stored in a tree-like set of directories (or nested
folders for Mac fans), each of which pertains to a different subject.
When visiting an FTP site using a "live" internet connection, one would
specify the name of the site, login with a userid & password, navigate
to the desired directory and select one or more files to be transferred
back to their local system.
Using FTP by e-mail is very similar, except that the desired site is
reached through a special "ftpmail server" which logs in to the remote
site and returns the requested files to you in response to a set of
commands in an e-mail message.
Using FTP by e-mail can be nice even for those with full Internet
access, because some popular FTP sites are heavily loaded and
interactive response can be very sluggish. So it makes sense not to
waste time and connect charges in these cases.
To use FTP by e-mail, you first need a list of FTP "sites" which are the
addresses of the remote computer systems that allow you to retrieve
files anonymously (without having a userid and password on that
system).
There are some popular sites listed later in this guide, but you can get
a comprehensive list of hundreds of anonymous FTP sites by sending an
e-mail message to the internet address:
  mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
and include these lines in the BODY of the note.
  send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part1
  ... (21 lines omitted for brevity) ...
  send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part23
You will then receive (by e-mail) 23 files which comprise the "FTP Site
List". Note that these files are each about 60K, so the whole lot will
total over a megabyte! These files haven't been updated since Nov97 but
they are still a valuable resource for FTP sites world-wide.
Another file you might want to get is "FTP Frequently Asked Questions"
which contains lots more info on using FTP services, so add this line to
your note as well:
  send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/faq
After you receive the site list you'll see dozens of entries like this,
which tell you the site name, location and the kind of files that are
stored there.
  Site  : ftp.cs.wisc.edu
  Country: USA
  GMT  : -6
  Date  : 23-Jul-95
  Source : mail
  Alias : fyvie.cs.wisc.edu
  Admin : ftp@cs.wisc.edu
  Organ : University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, CS dept.
  Server :
  System : Unix
  URL  : ftp://ftp.cs.wisc.edu/
  Comment: server can (de)compress, tar files and directories; RoadMap
      contains list of directories; files from shorty.cs.wisc.edu
  Files : 007; afs-tools; AIX; Approximation Theory; bolo; CDIFF;
      computer-vision; condor; connectivity table; coral; Exodus; galileo;
      ghost; goodman; HP; list-archives; machine learning; markhill;
      math prog; mcplib; Novell; par-distr-sys; paradise; shore; sohi;
      spim; spimsal; swartz; tech-reports; Ultimate Frisbee files; UW;
      warts; wisc; wwt; X; xunet
If you find an interesting FTP site in the list, send e-mail to one of
these ftpmail servers:
  ftpmail@academ.com       (United States)
  ftpmail@btoy1.rochester.ny.us (United States)
  ftpmail@cnd.caravan.ru     (Russia) - SLOW
  ftpmail@dna.affrc.go.jp    (Japan)
  ftpmail@ftp.sunet.se      (Sweden)
  ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de  (Germany)
  ftpmail@gu.net         (Ukraine)
  ftpmail@ml.imasy.or.jp     (Japan)
  ftpmail@mail.iif.hu      (Hungary)
  ftpmail@mercure.umh.ac.be   (Belgium)
  ftpmail@uar.net        (Ukraine)
Note: There are other restricted-use FTPMAIL servers listed at
    http://www.expita.com/servers.html
    See the "WWW By E-mail" section for help retrieving this file.
It doesn't really matter which one you choose, but a server that is
geographically close may respond quicker. (Please DON'T use the first
one in the list just because it's there!) In the body of the note,
include these lines:
  open <site>
  dir
  quit
This will return to you a list of the files stored in the root directory
at that site. See the figure below for an example of the output when
using "ftp.simtel.net" for the site name.
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
  total 20
  drwxr-xr-x  9 root   sys     1024 Oct 29 1999 .
  drwxr-xr-x  9 root   sys     1024 Oct 29 1999 ..
  -rw-r--r--  1 root   sys     1431 Oct 18 1999 .welcome
  -rw-r--r--  1 root   sys     731 Oct 26 1995 README.mirroring
  d--x--x--x  2 root   sys      96 Oct 27 1999 bin
  d--x--x--x  2 root   sys      96 Oct 27 1999 etc
  drwxr-xr-x  5 root   other    8192 Nov 10 1999 mir01
  drwxr-xr-x  8 root   other    8192 Jul 27 1999 mir02
  drwxr-xr-x  5 root   other    8192 Jul 27 1999 mir03
  drwxr-xr-x  6 root   other    8192 Jul 29 1999 mir04
  drwxr-xr-x  3 root   users    1024 Oct 27 1999 pub
 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
In your next e-mail message you can navigate to other directories by
inserting (for example)
  cd pub              (use "chdir" if "cd" doesn't work)
before the "dir" command. (The "cd" means "change directory" and "pub"
is a common (public) directory name, usually a good place to start.)
Once you determine the name of a file you want to retrieve, use:
  get <name of file>
in the following note instead of the "dir" command. If the file you
want to retrieve is plain text, this will suffice. If it's a binary
file (an executable program, compressed file, etc.) you'll need to
insert the command:
  binary
in your note before the "get" command.
Tip: Many directories at FTP sites contain a file called 00-index.txt,
README, or something similarly named which gives a description of the
files found there. If you're just exploring and your "dir" reveals one
of these filenames, do a "get" on the file and save yourself some time.
OK, let's grab the text of The Magna Carta. Here's the message you send
to an ftpmail server:
  open wiretap.area.com      (The name of the FTP site)
  chdir /Gov/World/        (Directory where the file lives)
  get magna.txt          (Sign here please, John)
  quit               (Bring it on home)
Here are the commands you would send to to get a file from the Simtel
Software Repository that was mentioned earlier.
  open ftp.simtel.net       (mirrored at other world-wide sites)
  cd pub/simtelnet/msdos/disasm/
  binary              (Because we're getting a ZIP file)
  get bubble.zip
  quit
Some other interesting FTP sites you may want to "visit" are listed
below. (Use these site names on the "open" command and the suggested
directory name on your "chdir" command, as in the previous examples.)
  rtfm.mit.edu    Try: pub/usenet/news.answers for USENET info
  ftp.simtel.net   Try: pub/simtelnet a huge DOS/WIN software library
  gatekeeper.dec.com Try: pub/recipes for a cooking & recipe archive
Remember that you can't just send e-mail to ftpmail@<anysite>, rather
you send the "open <site>" command to one of the known ftpmail servers.
Notes:
- The ftpmail servers tend to be quite busy. Your reply may not arrive
  for several minutes, hours, or days.
- Some large files may be split into smaller pieces and returned to you
  as multiple messages. You can control this (and also override the
  return e-mail address) using special ftpmail commands.
- The commands are not the same on every server - send the "help"
  command to find out how FTPMAIL works on the server you are using!
- Often the ftpmail servers keep local archives. Open the local archives
  by not specifying a site on the "open" line. Using the local archives
  gives your request priority so it will be processed before all outside
  requests.
If the file that is returned to you ends up looking something like what
you see below, (the word "begin" with a number and the filename on one
line, followed by a bunch of 61-character lines) it most likely is a
binary file that has been "uuencoded" by the sender. (This is required
in order to reliably transmit binary files by e-mail.)
   begin 666 answer2.zip
   M4$L#!`H`!@`.`/6H?18.$-Z$F@P```@?```,````5$5,25@S,34N5%A480I[
   M!P8;!KL,2P,)!PL).PD'%@.(!@4.!P8%-@.6%PL*!@@*.P4.%00.%P4*.`4.
You'll need to scrounge up a version of the "uudecode" program for your
operating system (DOS, OS/2, Unix, Mac, etc.) in order to reconstruct
the file. Most likely you'll find a copy already at your site or in
your service provider's download library, but if not you can use the
instructions in the next section to find out how to search FTP sites for
a copy.