After so many years of working with FTP on Ubuntu, I'm now confused. I read on many docs that FTP is insecure and that SFTP or SSH is the best way to go.
But here's what I want to do...
We are a group of 4 users on a LAN. The Ubuntu server modules (eg: LAMP stack, Postgres, etc) are actually on an Ubuntu Desktop OS. Anyway, we're using it as a server.
I need for each user to log-in from their PCs (usually Ubuntu) and update their work in /var/www and other shared folders. Not everyone has access to every folder. So I guess creating FTP accounts for each user is a good way to go.
Now, since many people suggest that open-SSH or SFTP is the way to go, I'd like to know the following:
Is it correct to assume that SSH applies to a machine and NOT to a user? So if this is the case users will need to stick to a single computer.
Does SFTP work the same way as FTP where user names can be created with restricted upload/download rights?
Is it really a bad idea to continue using FTP instead of the more 'secure' alternatives since I'm on a LAN?
Pretty confused and really appreciate your inputs!