FTP and HTTP...

what do they mean as in what is the difference between the 2, please don't just give the full name for them. And please keep in mind who you are talking to...

 

FTP is for like downloading files and stuff, HTTP for web pages and things like that... Not exactly like that, but close enough I guess

 

okay...so when I am downloading something I should hit the FTP button, then? Why do they give a choice?

 

Huh? If you have a choice of how to download something, then I think it's more a matter of preferance...

 

What does that mean?

I hope you know that this is all your fault.

 

Hmmm, ok, for future reference don't listen to anything I say, as I may or may not know what I'm talking about, and probably don't know when it is I do or don't...

 

http is primarily used for websites. ie: check out the addy of hipforums, HTTP://hipforums....whatever.

ftp is "file transer protocol" meaning, the way files are movied around. if you're downloading something, it's highly likely we nerds would say "you're ftping that server"

what are you trying to do?

 

I'm trying to download GIMP because Souless chaos and many others have said it was a good program...but the whole downloading thing is kicking my ass.

 

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gaim/gaim-1.0.1.exe?download (HTTP) just click on the link, or right click on it and save...

 

FTP isn't just downloading files...you can upload too. (now doesn't that confuse you even more?)

And they give you a choice because at times one is faster then the other...not always...

 

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol - how web pages are transmitted and viewed etc.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol - Protocol for transfering files. If you're downloading large files this is preferable. But you should have a proper FTP client do transfer files, I use FlashFXP. They have a free trial download.

 

http is a TCP protocol, meaing that reliability is handled quicker in the transport, ftp is a UDP protocol, this can lead to faster downloads, but error handling is handled at the application layer, so if its not a good connection it will take longer.....

ftp does not always work behind proxy servers as it uses many diferant communications channels at the same time

 

Yea same goes for any connectionless protocol