ssh alternatives

[Greg Golin]

Following a discussion on slashdot I would like to ask this list's
opinion on providing remote access in general and ssh vs other
solutions in particular.

So here's the deal. I know most of sshd brute force attempts shall be
thwarted by running the daemon on a different port. However, many
existing scripts -- too many to change all of them -- rely on default
ssh configuration. At the same time, my devs require constant remote
access to the servers.

I am currently considering disabling ssh on external interfaces and
installing openswan.

What is your opinion on this issue?

Thanks.
G