Tue 6 Mar 2007
Few programs are as near and dear to my heart as LeechFTP. The sad part is that this graceful creature hasn’t been touched by developers in years. In fact, I first received LeechFTP from a coworker at NCSU about 5 years ago. The developer, Jan Debis, hasn’t touched it since. The program was folded into a “newer” program which I absolutely hate and resembles nothing of the original. Debis’s site for LeechFTP has been shut down in the past year marking a final death for the program. The .EXE file is still available at download.com. With 1.2 million downloads and a 4.5 star rating (215 votes), you’d think Debis would notice that this program really caught on.
The basic layout has an echoing terminal at the top to visualize FTP chatter. Below is a 3-pane panel with operations, local files, and remote files panes. The operations pane contains a file upload queue that you can put to “sleep”. My favorite tab in this pane is the threads tab which shows you exactly what threads are running, what files they are transferring, their speed, estimated time each, and more. You can limit the number of connections here easily. There are also other tabs, but the only one I find useful is the failure tab which allows you to re-queue any problematic file transfers. LeechFTP also has a system to store your favorite FTP connections in folders. You can easily access or edit your connections through this brilliant system.
One of the saddest days of my life will be the day that LeechFTP no longer runs on my computer. I have not tested this program on Vista, nor have I heard anyone talk about it. I am hoping it will survive this OS upgrade. It was originally designed in the Windows 98 OS, but XP picked it up just fine (minus the old GUI still adorning the app). I would almost pay thousands for the code to LeechFTP so I could maintain this brilliant program myself throughout the decades. I tried to work on my own FTP program, but this proved to be very time consuming. It has never reached the full capacity that LeechFTP has.
Jan Debis, please, if you are out there anywhere, please consider coming back to our old friend LeechFTP. Don’t force us to use other programs like CuteFTP or FileZilla in the future. You made the FTP process so easy and quick.
I will saver my final years with this program like a fine wine.
April 19th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I agree entirely with your comments about Leech - I have also been using this great simple program for many years. I have just installed it on my new laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium - very relieved to find it installs and runs without any hitches. May it run and run… forever.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:27 am
I have loved this program since the first time I used it. I’l match you dollar for dollar if you can find Jan Debis and get the source code out of him.
I knoow there are many users who would happily give him money for this program.. where is he?
June 29th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I loved LeechFTP too and used it for years. However, I am quite keen on SmartFTP these days… it’s not the same but still pretty good and a bit more modern. I reckon it’s a nice substitute given the demise of LeechFTP.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:49 am
I’ve been using LeechFTP for years. Only thing annoying is that it tries to update, and shows an error.
I don’t really understand why you want an update, the program is already perfect.
July 7th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Found your entry while browsing around trying to find out why I can’t see my remote directories now that I’ve upgraded to Vista (which I’m not loving). The comment above encourages me to keep trying. Thanks.
My only gripe with LeechFTP is that when I run into problems like this there is nowhere to turn… (Oh, and by the way, the help feature doesn’t work in Vista).
July 12th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Totally agree with everyone. Maybe we can find Jan Debis somehow. I have used leech for years. I also use another ftp client because it auto changes directories local and remote.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:36 am
I called Jan Debis once. He lives in Germany and somehow I managed to get him on the phone. Unfortunately he was cooperative at all and didn\’t want to publish the source code. Maybe he would sell it, who knows…
See also my blog entry about it: http://www.tyron.at/devblog/?postid=45
August 28th, 2007 at 4:25 am
I still only uses LeechFTP. Sleek and simple.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I have been using Leech since forever. I can’t seem to find a program to substitute with. Whatever happened to Jan Debis anyway?
November 23rd, 2007 at 8:13 pm
leechftp is the best forever!!!
please come back!
February 20th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Hey.
I\’ve used it since 1999(!)
Take a look here: http://ftpcube.sourceforge.net/
Based on LeechFTP
February 25th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I’ve been using Leechftp for years and would gladly match you if you want to start a “buy the source from Jan” fund. This program is great and the interface is magnificient. No fuss, no muss, no clutter.
March 14th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I agree with all of the praise for this program. Been using Leech for nine years.
One thing I love about it is that you can copy the program files directly from one machine to the next, including bookmarks, no installation is necessary.
You can switch off the prompt for updates, just go to File > Options and uncheck the \
May 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Leech finally died for me (see my new post).
June 13th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Man I love leechFTP and I’ve been using it for almost 8 years now… it is the ONLY ftp program that can get through my corporate proxy. It is always reliable and I love the download URL file feature. I randomly bumped into another leech user while working at a customer site, I was looking for someone, asked some random guy for directions and was like “Hey you use Leech too!” and we had a great conversation.
I wonder what Jan is up to these days?
August 5th, 2008 at 10:13 am
LeechFTP what can one say about LeechFTP that has not been said before. It’s simply design is easy to use and very effective, it just WORKS. It’s like an old friend. I have had it longer than any other program or tool. I even purchased bitbeamer the successor and it took some time but I grew to enjoy it. When bitbeamer went DOA I was disappointed, but relived and thrilled that I could still use LeechFTP, Jan Debis please listen to your fans, sell the source code or give it away or something, I don’t think we want major changes no need to turn it into bitbeamer but an official website and support would be nice, I think all the LeechFTP user feel like a family that has gotten lost, LeechFTP is the KING LONG LIVE THE KING!!! I am in for purchasing the source code I am more than willing to add to the pot, I just hope he has it backed up somewhere.
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Hi,
I fully agree with you all, re this fantastic piece of software.
I’m using Leech for years now,
Since win95.
I’m here by a casual link found with Google, while looking for a living sign of Dear Mr. Jan Debis on the web, and checking perhaps there is a new product of his.
Now,
last week, while searching the web for some utility regarding my “hoby” (concept maps), I’ve come upon a ‘tiny’ program: EVE.exe
(you MUST get it..) which reminded me of Leech ..,
and then,
while looking after more products of its producer Mr. Barry Kauler,
I came upon puppy-Linux.
So, the world is nice, and there are special people like Jan Debis and Barry Kauler..
It’s pity the universe is beeing ruled by Bill Gates type, and not
by the kind of the two unique men mentioned above.
Have a nice day,
Levitov, ISRAEL.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I have been using LeechFTP for almost last 10 years and it is the only program that I am using ever since I had my first PC. I installed it first in Win95 and it worked as a charm, I upgraded my OS to Win98 and it still worked as before. Now my OS is WinXP SP2 and it still works faithfully. All other programs on my system have come and gone, but LeechFTP hasn’t deserted me.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Hear hear!