
Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------

Index:
  1. Why not use mirror, rsync, fmirror etc etc?
  2. What is WebDAV?
  3. Should I use WebDAV or FTP?
  4. Why do I get crashes or strange output when updating my sites with
     WebDAV?
  5. Why do I get a 15-second delay before a file is uploaded when
     updating my sites with WebDAV?

1. Why not use mirror, rsync, fmirror etc etc?

sitecopy is for maintaining web sites via FTP. This cannot be done
with rsync or fmirror, which require shell accounts on the web server.

You can use mirror instead of sitecopy - the basic functionality is
duplicated. But, sitecopy does NOT go to the FTP server and see what's
there every time - this is the fundamental difference between sitecopy
and mirror. This saves bandwidth, and startup time. sitecopy also has
some features missing in mirror (though the reverse is also true),
such as remote file move and interactive confirmations.

sitecopy can use WebDAV as well as FTP - this brings all the
advantages of WebDAV to site maintenance (better security, speed etc).
See <http://www.webdav.org/> for more information about WebDAV.

2. What is WebDAV?

See the FAQ sheet at:

http://www.webdav.org/other/faq.html

3. Should I use WebDAV or FTP?

From sitecopy's perspective, you should take into account the
following points:

- Given correct server configuration, DAV is faster than FTP and
has more secure authentication mechanisms.
- Currently, you cannot set the file permissions of remote files
using DAV. This can be done with FTP. This might be important to
you if you use CGI scripts.

See the WebDAV FAQ for more comparison of WebDAV vs FTP.

4. Why do I get crashes or strange output when updating my sites with
WebDAV?

Is the server running Apache 1.3.6 or before? There is a known bug
with these releases which can be worked around in sitecopy by adding
   http noexpect
to the entry in the rcfile. If possible, you should upgrade to
the Apache 1.3.9 (or later), which has fixed this bug. Those using
Apache 1.3.9 (or later), do not need to use 'http noexpect'.

5. Why do I get a 15-second delay before a file is uploaded when
updating my sites with WebDAV?

This is the same problem as above - use 'http noexpect' in your
rcfile entry.
