(The RFC pre-dates the existence of Google Chrome by a year and a half.) Google Chrome does not even issue the FEAT command. Not only is SIZE defined by an RFC (3659) whose very title is 'Extensions to FTP', but that same RFC explains (in § 4.3) how an FTP client uses the FEAT command to determine that the SIZE extension is a supported feature in the first place. In fact SIZE is optional (per the IANA FTP command registry), and 502 is a perfectly legitimate response. If an FTP server responds 502 ('command not implemented') to that verb, Google Chrome quits the entire FTP session and fails to retrieve the URL. Google Chrome thinks that the SIZE verb is mandatory, and performs a SIZE / (or whatever path it wants in place of /) immediately upon login. In fact, many common WWW browsers either have no support for FTP at all or have one or more fairly basic and egregious problems relating to FTP that mean that they cannot retrieve files hosted on FTP servers.

This is the Frequently Given Answer to that claim, which turns out to be based solely upon a one-sentence off-hand and unspecific remark in a book. Most common web browsers can retrieve files hosted on FTP servers You've come to this page because you've asserted something similar to the following on Wikipedia: FGA: The WWW browser FTP hall of shame The WWW browser FTP hall of shame

Mozilla firefox ftp client