Q:

How do I get the standard Vim FTP command to work?

When I do vim ftp://[user@]machine/path in Vim I get this error: E683: File name missing or invalid pattern. Why id Vim treating this command as a search pattern?
I'm getting the same error in MacVim and Terminal Vim.

A:

Usually you want to start Vim and then edit a file over ftp. Calling vim with a url may not work. You're supposed give a file path as argument to vim and that's what's causing the error.
Also, the error says:

File name missing or invalid pattern

Vim is not treating it as a search pattern. Notice the "or". It happens that no file name is given.
Try starting vim and then:
:e ftp://[user@]machine/path

