“When setting up a Linux Internet server, ftp is an
application that is often important, but also often
overlooked. If you install Red Hat as a server installation,
wu-ftpd is the default server installed. While wu-ftpd is a fast
performer, it lacks easy configuration and a robust feature set,
and it has a poor history of security bugs.”
“As we struggled to configure virtual ftp access on wu-ftpd, we
decided we needed to check out alternative ftp daemons. We were
looking for a few things in particular: easy configuration,
security, lots of features, and the ability to handle a decent
amount of traffic. While there are a number of ftp daemons
available, two seemed to have a pretty good following: ncftpd and
ProFTPD.”
“We decided to install and test ProFTPD, after viewing their web
site and reviewing the rather extensive reference page. The number
of options available, coupled with a configuration that promised to
be Apache-like, told me it was at least worth a look. We set up a
fresh Red Hat 6.0 server installation, and then removed wu-ftpd.
After downloading the ProFTPD rpm, we tried to install it. Rpm
claimed there was a conflict with wu-ftpd, even though we had
uninstalled it. Hmmmm. We decided to download the source and
compile it. This was fairly painless, and it side-stepped the rpm
problem.”