[lug] filehandles in perl question...

[Tkil]

if you just want to retrieve multiple files from a remote filesystem,
why not simply use `rcp' (better yet `scp', but that's a different
issue).

i use `scp' to transfer mbox files to my local box; if I went through
the trouble of setting up the appropriate configuration, it could do
this without asking for a password at all.  `scp' is a part of
OpenSSH, which is available in source form for many platforms.

this sounds a lot cleaner than trying to build an automaton that
behaves like an interactive user.

you might also want to investigate `rsync', which uses `rsh' or `ssh'
to keep directory hierarchies on different boxes synchronized:

   http://rsync.samba.org

t.