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List:       pkgsrc-users
Subject:    Re: NetBSD ftpd on-the-fly conversions incompatible with curl
From:       Greg Troxel <gdt () lexort ! com>
Date:       2023-04-21 11:52:34
Message-ID: rmimt318nb1.fsf () s1 ! lexort ! com
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Daniel Feenberg <feenberg@nber.org> writes:

> I have been using the NetBSD ftpd server for some time specifically
> because of the on-the-fly conversion capability. Usually that is for
> gunziping files before transmission, but I have a more critical need -
> I use it to process data for anonymous users.
>
> However, it seems that curl inquires about the size of the file before
> "get"ing it, and ftpd replies "550 <filename> not a plain file" when a
> file is subject to conversion, which is apparently treated as a fatal
> error by curl, and curl does not attempt to "get" the file. Here is a
> portion of the --verbose output from curl:
>
>   > TYPE I
>   < 200 Type set to I.
>   > SIZE NBERStostad.txm35
>   < 550 NBERStostad.txm35: not a plain file.
>   * The file does not exist
>
> According to this post (https://curl.se/mail/lib-2004-10/0035.html),
> if the SIZE command did not exist, curl would still work. It appears
> that existing and providing a specific error message is the getting in
> the way. I am not sure why curl bothers to issue the SIZE command when
> the --max-filesize option is left unspecified. It seems unnecessary.
>
> Is there any way around this? The conversion feature is the primary
> reason for my using NetBSD.

This seems like a curl bug, and should be reported upstream.   Unless
curl can explain why their behavior is proper from the RFC, and then
maybe NetBSD's ftp should change.
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