Firefox 90 to remove browser's built-in FTP support

AppleInsider · April 16, 2021 10:49AM

After steadily deprecating the ability to FTP files from within Firefox, Mozilla is to remove the feature entirely from its version 90 release later this year.

Firefox

The steady updates to the Firefox web browser, which recently saw the addition of native Apple Silicon support, is about to remove a feature. From Firefox 90, users will no longer be able to use the browser to transfer files over FTP.

"The implementation is currently disabled in the Firefox Nightly and Beta pre-release channels," says Mozilla in a blog post, "and will be disabled when Firefox 88 is released on April 19, 2021. The implementation will be removed in Firefox 90."

"After FTP is disabled in Firefox," it continues, "the browser will delegate ftp:// links to external applications in the same manner as other protocol handlers."

Developers will no longer be able to use APIs to handle FTP requests via the browser. Mozilla says that users will still be able to use third-party FTP apps, and that "ftp has been added to the list of supported protocol_handlers for browser extensions."

"This means that extensions will be able to prompt users to launch a FTP application to handle certain links," it concludes.

At time of writing, the latest official release that can be downloaded is Firefox 87.0. No date has been announced for Firefox 89 or 90, but Firefox 88 will be available from Monday, April 19.

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iqatedo · April 16, 2021 11:00AM

What's the story with Safari?

crowley · April 16, 2021 11:07AM

iqatedo said:

What's the story with Safari?

Safari will open ftp links in the Finder, or another application of your choice. It doesn't handle them within Safari.

Good that Firefox is removing some bloat.

lkrupp · April 16, 2021 1:23PM

What’s the driver here? Is there some inherent security or privacy risk to using FTP within a browser? FTP is one of those ancient, original internet protocols that most users don’t have a use for I suspect. Of course there’s always those who still use it.

williamh · April 16, 2021 1:47PM

lkrupp said:

What’s the driver here? Is there some inherent security or privacy risk to using FTP within a browser? FTP is one of those ancient, original internet protocols that most users don’t have a use for I suspect. Of course there’s always those who still use it.

FTP passes everything in plain text. You need to use sftp for any security. Chrome is also getting rid of ftp support and it’s disabled by default now. It seems the industry has gone away from the notion that users can make these decisions because . . . well look at the world and see where that got us.

dewme · April 16, 2021 4:46PM

I am totally cool with this. This brings Firefox closer to adhering to "separation of concerns" principles. Pragmatically speaking, these ancillary functions often get added to a product with very good intentions, but if they are not part of the primary functionality of the app they too often get overlooked or assigned to the "B Team" for maintenance and upkeep. When the product subsequently gets scrutinized for security and privacy concerns, areas of lesser concern may not get the full treatment and attention they deserve. I always prefer tools that do one thing exceptionally well over tools that do multiple things half-assed.

If you need a top notch FTP tool, find a top notch FTP tool made by someone whose whole world is building great FTP tools.

ravnorodom · April 16, 2021 9:45PM

I always get the kick out of their browser’s version numbers.

Firefox 90 to remove browser's built-in FTP support

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