FileZilla IconFor all those who maintain websites, ftp uploads to the server is a practice. There are many tools out there, which let you connect to a server sitting in an air conditioned room at the other end of the earth.

And ubiquitous of them all is FileZilla.

FileZilla is an Open Source FTP client that basically lets you connect to a server which has FTP access enabled. Once connected, it lets you upload and download files and directory structures. It can also perform basic actions like changing the file attributes.

Instead of listing out the pros of FileZilla, I would rather quote the feature list from their documentation.

  • Ability to resume Uploads/Downloads (if the server supports it)
  • Custom Commands
  • Site Manager with folders
  • Keep Alive system
  • Timeout detection
  • Firewall support
  • SOCKS4/5 and HTTP1.1 Proxy support
  • SSL secured connections
  • SFTP support
  • Upload/Download Queue
  • Drag & Drop
  • Multi-language support
  • GSS authentication and encryption using Kerberos

So, does it have any disadvantages?

Not many that I can think of, but I did have problem using FileZilla for connecting to a secure server, through the SSH port to be exact. But I doubt it could be just me – I might not have set it up properly.

Another gripe with FileZilla is that you cannot have simultaneous connection to multiple servers. I sometimes find it necessary at my job, and the only option is to get the files require to the local machine and then move it to the other server. But it is quite cumbersome, and this feature is quite desirable.

Download FileZilla from SourceForge.net

Did you know that OpenOffice Writer had a feature to export to PDF?

It was about a week back, and I was searching for a solution to get a good PDF creator for my ebook, You Too Can Sketch. I could find a lot of PDF printers there, but they were not giving me the desired output quality. It was then, that I found the place where I composed the book, itself had a good quality PDF creator.

  1. Open the document you need to create a PDF out of, using OpenOffice Writer
  2. File -> Export As PDF…
  3. Browse to the folder you want the PDF to be created in, type in the name, and hit the Save button

And you are done.