Transferring file to local machine when SSHing into a foreign box

[Dotan Cohen]

One can log into a remote shell via SSH, and one can use an FTP
application to log in via SFTP using the same credentials over SSH.
Why then, can one not initiate a file transfer from the remote host to
the local host when logged into a shell via SSH?

I know that I could use scp or rsync to move the files, but the
requires authenticating which is not something that I can always do
from the host. From my limited understanding the existing SSH
connection is all that should be needed, as SSH has file transfer
capability.

Apparently quite a few people are interested in this feature, here is
one example from many that can be found of people requesting this
functionality:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/440524/ssh-a-way-to-transfer-files-without-opening-a-separate-sftp-session

Would it be appropriate for me to file a feature request on the
OpenSSH bugzilla, considering that I am not able to write the code to
implement the feature?

Thanks.

-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://gibberish.co.il
http://what-is-what.com