ssh: method

[Ross Burton <ross burtonini com>]

As we're all happily thinking about 2.6 features, I'll throw another one
in.

The current ssh: method is a hack. It's a well tested hack, as various
people have been fixing bugs in it.  However, it is still a hack.

sftp: [1] is not as much of a hack. It uses the file transfer protocol
supplied with OpenSSH and therefore should be much more stable. This
unfortunately is not maintained any more (although it works for me), is
not part of GNOME, and requires the sftp module to be loaded on the SSH
server (this is the default with openssh). If you have gnome-ssh-askpass
installed, it even prompts for passphrases when connecting! :)

I suggest that someone with good knowledge of the ssh: code (/me looks
at Bastien ;) merges the two code bases.  The Ultimate ssh: vfs method
would try sftp: first, and then use the current ssh method if that is
not available.  I'd prefer to just use sftp but I don't know how many
servers out there support it (the commercial server supports it I
believe).

Regards,
Ross
-- 
Ross Burton                                 mail: ross burtonini com
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