<s>
FTPmail	B-Application
is	O
the	O
term	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
practice	O
of	O
using	O
an	O
FTPmail	B-Application
server	O
to	O
gain	O
access	O
to	O
various	O
files	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
FTPmail	B-Application
server	O
is	O
a	O
proxy	B-Application
server	I-Application
which	O
(	O
asynchronously	O
)	O
connects	O
to	O
remote	O
FTP	B-Protocol
servers	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
email	O
requests	O
,	O
returning	O
the	O
downloaded	O
files	O
as	O
an	O
email	O
attachment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
service	O
might	O
be	O
useful	O
to	O
users	O
who	O
cannot	O
themselves	O
initiate	O
an	O
FTP	B-Protocol
session	O
—	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
because	O
they	O
are	O
constrained	O
by	O
restrictions	O
on	O
their	O
Internet	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
FTP	B-Protocol
specification	O
did	O
not	O
allow	O
for	O
a	O
session	O
to	O
be	O
resumed	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
transmission	O
had	O
to	O
restart	O
from	O
the	O
beginning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FTPmail	B-Application
gateways	O
allowed	O
people	O
to	O
retrieve	O
such	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
file	O
was	O
broken	O
into	O
smaller	O
pieces	O
and	O
encoded	O
using	O
a	O
popular	O
format	O
such	O
as	O
uuencode	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
FTP	B-Protocol
,	O
files	O
could	O
be	O
transferred	O
through	O
FTPmail	B-Application
even	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
an	O
online	O
Internet	O
connection	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
using	O
BBSes	O
or	O
other	O
specialized	O
e-mail	O
software	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
these	O
servers	O
hosted	O
software	O
archives	O
containing	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
other	O
GNU	B-Operating_System
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Access	O
to	O
these	O
repositories	O
via	O
FTPmail	B-Application
was	O
instrumental	O
in	O
allowing	O
people	O
from	O
foreign	O
countries	O
to	O
access	O
these	O
tools	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
where	O
online	O
connectivity	O
was	O
impossible	O
from	O
their	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FTPmail	B-Application
services	O
were	O
common	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
,	O
but	O
dwindled	O
in	O
importance	O
as	O
more	O
users	O
gained	O
direct	O
internet	O
access	O
through	O
SLIP	B-Protocol
,	O
PPP	B-Protocol
and	O
other	O
Dial-up	O
access	O
internet	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FTP	B-Protocol
also	O
has	O
lost	O
popularity	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
other	O
methods	O
for	O
file	O
transfer	O
,	O
notably	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
which	O
is	O
available	O
to	O
virtually	O
all	O
Internet	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
email	O
is	O
sent	O
to	O
a	O
FTPmail	B-Application
server	O
with	O
the	O
command	O
to	O
be	O
performed	O
,	O
inserted	O
as	O
the	O
body	O
of	O
the	O
message	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CommandFunctionhelpReturns	O
a	O
help	O
file.open	O
[site[user[password]]]Connect	O
to	O
site.cd	O
pathChange	O
directory	O
to	O
path	O
specified.ls	O
[path]List	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
directory.dir	O
[path]List	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
the	O
directoryget	O
fileGet	O
a	O
file	O
,	O
the	O
path	O
to	O
save	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
*	O
mentioned.size	O
max[ 	O
K	O
|	O
M	O
]	O
Size	O
when	O
file	O
is	O
split	O
before	O
sending	O
,	O
the	O
max	O
size	O
is	O
Kb|	O
Mb.mode	O
binaryBinary	O
mode	O
:	O
archives	O
,	O
binary	O
files.mode	O
asciiASCII	O
mode	O
:	O
nothing	O
but	O
ASCII	O
text.quitEnd	O
of	O
ftp-by-email	O
message	O
.	O
</s>
