[ih] History of Anonymous FTP

[Dave Crocker]

On 9/28/2021 8:56 PM, Darius Kazemi wrote:
> There is of course Padlipsky's anecdote (that probably won't settle 
> anything to anyone's satisfaction) on the invention of anonymous login 
> for FTP:

While one should never take an "I'm the inventor and here are the 
details" statement on it's own(*), the existence of it can, of course, 
be helpful.  I'm not an historian, but I'd assume that it would count as 
part of a collection of bits of complementary information, to form a 
'likelihood' assessment.

So, for example, I've been saying that I know Anonymous FTP was not in 
the initial use but appeared quickly, and I guess around 1974 or 1975. 
Padlisky's claim of 1973 is close enough, IMO, since that leaves some 
buffer for propagation (and impinging on my slow awareness.)

So, no, it doesn't 'settle' the question, but I'd count it as helpful. 
Thanks!

d/

(*) As least he didn't claim to invent email.

-- 
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net