svn+ssh relies on SSH being directly available, by default port 22. SSH, by default, allows direct user logins with shell access, by password or by SSH key. That raises serious security concerns. The safest way to run svn+ssh is usually with a separate SSH daemon, on another port, configured to only allow SSH key based access as the designated SSH repository owner, and with the "ForceCommand" option used for SSH keys to enforce access to the designated Subversion repositories. The result is that a lot of casually configured svn+ssh sites have opened themselves wide to remote shell access, and in many groups, allowing that needs some kind of sign-off from the security group, which they're unlikely to give if they can say "why not ust use web access???"
Doing all that takes work: there is still no good GUI or automatic key setup tool for any of those steps. And as someone who prefers to use svn+ssh for security reasons, I admit that it's a pain in the keister to set up correctly the first time. I still prefer svn+ssh because the Linux and UNIX clients don't save passwords in clear text, and the integration of SSH key passphrase management with the Gnome and KDE wallet applications has gotten pretty good. On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 6:07 PM, Daniel Shahaf <d...@daniel.shahaf.name> wrote: > sbre...@hotmail.com wrote on Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 18:37:21 +0000: >> I am very happy with the SSH + 'svnserve' access to my repositories, >> however due to firewall issues I need access through HTTP as well. >> What I do not want is to set up a 2nd authentication / authorization >> database. > > What are the "firewall issues", exactly? Why can't you use svn+ssh? > Can you run sshd on port 80 (which would allow you to use svn+ssh > without httpd at all)? > > Daniel