Wait, aren't console FTP clientsboring? Not this one, especially when you consider its feature list: resume, batch processing, background transfers, war-dialing and more. See what happens when form meets function at the terminal.
It doesn't matter how drag'n'drop GUI based FTP clients are, there comes a time when only the terminal will do.
Certainly, at the least, for those times when X isn't up.
And when it comes to command line FTP there are few clients as rich and versatile as NcFTP. Don't let its demure, console nature fool you -- it's far more capable than most GUI based clients.
By default NcFTP will login anonymously to any address you specify, but you can specify username, password and port on the command line and -- when you quit -- will be prompted to bookmark the site. Future visits are then just a matter of launching it as: ncftp [bookmark]
NcFTP defaults to binary transfers as you'd expect, and features a few more commands above the norm -- bgget and betput allow you to start background transfers and return control to the terminal immediately, so you can continue to browse. cat can be used to view files inline, rather than downloading and viewing with another program, and by default the get and put commands are batch enabled, meaning they work just the same as the traditional 'mget' and 'mput' multiple-file transfer commands. So you can, for example, upload a range of files by simply using: put mypics*.jpg
NcFTP also includes a swank -- and configurable -- status bar (the 'progress-meter' setting) so much nicer than using the 'hash' command from traditional FTP, filename completion (press TAB, ala Bash), auto-resume, directory list caching, war-dialing for when server logins are full, and recursive transfers. It's enough for any Linux nut to get hot under the collar for. Or maybe that's just me.
Also bundled with NcFTP are standalone programs for 'get', 'put', 'ls' and batch processing, so you can transfer without any interaction (much like wget, though wget is easier).
There's much more functionality than covered here, so give it a go and man ncftp for more. NcFTP is included in all major distributions, so check your package manager, and if you really fall in love with it it's available for Windows too.
NcFTP: Homepage
NcFTP: Download
