WinSSHD settings are complex because the job of an SSH server is complex. It has to deal with very different types of use ranging from port forwarding to file transfer to terminal shell. It has to deal with very different usage scenarios from use in data centers to personal use, and customers have repeatedly come to us with requests for more fine-grained control over what the server will and won't do.

Frankly, if I could think of a way to make it simpler while retaining the flexibility, I would. But the flexibility pays our bills, so that is very important, too. :)

WinSSHD will become yet more flexible (and thus, of course, more complex) as we continue development to address things that our users want the server to be able to do.

I think we most likely need a good way to help the first-time user navigate the settings shock. :)

It's very true that's it's complex and I like what you've done to try to make it easier within the ui with all of the little blue "?" icons for accessing help. That definitely clarified some of the more confusing prompts. The biggest thing that's missing is some guidance through the common tasks. There are lots of options -- but a lot of them seem to have very reasonable defaults that don't need to be changed -- but the options are still there in the midst of other options which could be changed. Maybe it's the lack of a workflow of any sort. If there was a guided tool to help me set up a VPN-like connection with named users, that would have immediately be a better experience than my somewhat trial and error technique I used.

One other thing ... it took me more than year to even locate your product. By concentrating so much on the SSH nature of the tool, some of the real features and comparisons (like to a VPN) are lost or hard to locate -- and maybe made to sound more complex than they need to be. That's why I posted about the VPN thinking maybe someone would find my site and locate your software more easily than I had.

You make very good points, and indeed you highlight some of the most difficult problems we're confronted with. SSH can be so many things, so how can we explain to people, without overwhelming them, about all the things that they can do?

In the end, after contemplating such issues and once again not finding a good answer, I usually "solve the problem" the sheepish developer's way - fire up the development environment and focus on programming, which posits problems easier to solve. *blush*

I'd suggest it's the lack of clear workflows that really make your software harder than it needs to be.

Also, in looking at your home page for example, I see things that immediately signal 'whoa! for IT people only.' Talk of "workstations and servers" and "administration." Tunneling, FTP, etc. All terms that although familiar to some, are just computer acronyms that leave many people out in the cold.