For more information about or to discuss this proposal, see http://groups.drupal.org/node/9954

A module that automatically fetches modules (and themes, theme engines, etc.) from drupal.org and uploads them to your site.

Unlike previous attempts, however, this will not be a security risk; it will use its own (s)ftp engine to upload fetched files to the site. The password will not be stored; the user will be prompted for it every time.

This project consists of main parts:

• A file transfer mechanism from server back to the server. This by default will be FTP, extensible with a hook. As time permits, a module that uses the SSH2 PECL extension and implements SCP/SSH can be added.
• Another transfer mechanism which fetches other modules, themes, etc from drupal.org. This can be done via anonymous FTP. Also, there is a CVS client implemented in PHP, this needs research and if it's good, then implement it too.
• Some ways to check whether the fetched module is valid. This needs extending the project* module so that something (like an MD5 hash) is available via some mechanism, probably XML-RPC.

The benefit of this project is: Increased usability.