Why SSH?

[peanutismint]

I'm just wondering why all these posts suggest using SSH to access files on the SD card rather than FTP or similar..... Is there any reason why SSH is preferred? Is it possible to see some sort of graphical user interface with SSH as with FTP or is it command-line only??

[JeremyF]

SSH is secure. If you want to do FTP type things over SSH you can use SFTP. (it's the same service)

A Windows SFTP client is WinSCP (http://winscp.net, settings: port 22, protocol SFTP)

[SN]

WinSCP is the fella indeed - I talk to my pi's ONLY with that and putty

[rickseiden]

WinSCP is the fella indeed - I talk to my pi's ONLY with that and putty

You should try MobaXterm. It gives you both at the same time, along with a built in X server and VNC client.

[pluggy]

SSH is standard issue in Linux land, the client is installed by default on every distro I know of. It only maintains FTP for compatibility with lesser operating systems . Because its so standard, installing the server (if not already installed and activated) is a breeze. Using the filemanager Nautilus which is very popular on many Linux distros, you have drag and drop and direct editing/viewing of files on the remote system. Getting remote X running isn't a big deal either. Although why anyone would want to run a GUI on a severely underpowered thing like the Pi from a real computer is beyond me. (Just cut your losses and do it on the real computer).

You can burn me at the stake for heresy now........

[kalehrl]

I get much better speeds with using vsftpd (ftp protocol) than using WinSCP (sftp) for transferring files.

[Dweeber]

I get much better speeds with using vsftpd (ftp protocol) than using WinSCP (sftp) for transferring files.

Because it is not encrypting the data that is being sent over. Insecure.

[rickseiden]

Although why anyone would want to run a GUI on a severely underpowered thing like the Pi from a real computer is beyond me.

It's easier, when coding in Python, to edit and run and edit and run and edit and run, when you're in the GUI. Although I've recently switched to Geany, using MobaXterm to send the window to my Windows machine.

Just my 2 cents.